The province is situated in the heartland of Luzon, in what is known as the Central Plain covering the provinces of Region III and Pangasinan. Tarlac covers a total land area of 305,345 hectares (3,053.45 km2).[4]

Early in history, what came to be known as Valenzuela Ranch today was once a thickly forested area, peopled by roving tribes of nomadic Aetas who are said to be the aboriginal settlers of the Philippines, and for a lengthy period, it was the remaining hinterland of the Central Plain of Luzon. Tarlac is the most multi-cultural of the provinces in the region for having a mixture of four distinct groups, the Kapampangans, Pangasinans, Ilocanos and Tagalogs. It is also known for its fine food and vast sugar and rice plantations in Central Luzon.[5]

Tarlac's name is a Hispanized derivation from a talahib weed called Malatarlak. Tarlac was originally divided into two parts: the southern division belonging to Pampanga and the northern division belonging to Pangasinan, it was the last province in Central Luzon to be organized under the Spanish colonial administration in 1874.

Tarlac was captured by American forces on November 1899. A civil government was established in the province in 1901.

During World War II, Camp O'Donnell in Capas became the terminal point of the infamous Bataan Death March of Filipino and American soldiers who surrendered at Bataan on April 9, 1942. Many prisoners died of hunger, disease and/or execution, the general headquarters of the Philippine Commonwealth Army was established from January 03, 1942 to June 30, 1946 and the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was founding again from October 28, 1944 to June 30, 1946 and military stationed in the province of Tarlac and some parts in Central Luzon due to Japanese Occupation.[further explanation needed] Local troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army units has sending the clearing military operations in the province of Tarlac and Central Luzon from 1942 to 1945 and aided them by the recognized guerrilla groups including Hukbalahap Communist fighters and attacking Japanese Imperial forces.[incomprehensible] But in the aftermath, some local guerrilla resistance fighters and Hukbahalap groups are became retreating Imperial Japanese troops around the province and before the liberation from the Allied forces.[incomprehensible]

In early 1945, combined American and Filipino military forces with the recognized Aringay Command guerillas liberated Camp O'Donnell, the raid in Capas resulted in the rescue of American, Filipino and other allied Prisoners of War.

Recently,[when?] the Philippine Army has used Crow Valley in the borders of Barangay Patling and Santa Lucia in Capas, Tarlac as a testing ground for both Philippine forces and allies. Many of the Philippine military testings were done on March 17, 2006[6] most likely as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines.

The landlocked province is situated at the center of the central plains of Luzon, landlocked by four provinces: Pampanga on the south, Nueva Ecija on the east, Pangasinan on the north, and Zambales on the west. The province covers a total area of 3,053.60 square kilometres (1,179.00 sq mi)[4]. Approximately 75% of the province is plains while the rest is hilly to mountainous.

Landscape along Tarlac City

Eastern Tarlac is a plain, while Western Tarlac is hilly to mountainous, because of this, the province includes a large portion of mountains like Mt. Telakawa (Straw Hat Mountain), located at Capas, Tarlac. Mt. Bueno, Mt. Mor-Asia and Mt. Canouman are located also in Capas as well as Mt. Dalin, the other mountains are Mt. Dueg and Mt. Maasin, found in the municipality of San Clemente. Also noted are Mt. Damas of Camiling, the whole of Mayantoc and San Jose are mountainous so it is suitable for the highest natural resources and forest products in the province such as coal, iron, copper, vegetables, fruits, log fires, sand, rocks and forest animals such as wild boar and deer. The main water sources for agriculture include the Tarlac River at Tarlac City, the Lucong and Parua rivers in Concepcion, Sacobia Bamban River in Bamban and the Rio Chico in La Paz

Like the rest of Central Luzon, the province has three distinct seasons: summer from March to June, monsoon rain from July to September, and monsoon winter from October to February. Summer months, especially during May bring frequent, sometimes severe, thunderstorms with high winds, thunder, and hail, it is the coldest province in the region, with a yearly average of 23 °C (73 °F). Cold snap is not common, which gradually receives unusual average temperature of 17 °C (63 °F), while maximum daytime peaks 27 °C (81 °F). The lowest temperature ever recorded is 11.2 °C (52.2 °F) and the highest temperature at 38.8 °C (101.8 °F).[citation needed]

The population of Tarlac in the 2015 census was 1,366,027 people,[2] with a density of 450 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,200 inhabitants per square mile.

The predominant ethnic groups are the Kapampangans that mainly predominate the southern portion of the province and the Pangasinans that mainly predominate the northern portion of the province. Both ethnolinguistic groups intermingle together in the capital city. Ilocanos and Tagalogs constitute a considerable minority in the province.

Kapampangan and Pangasinan are both mainly used throughout the entire province, as well as Ilocano and Tagalog. Ilocanos and Tagalogs however, speak their respective languages with a Kapamapangan/Pangasinan accent, as descendants of Ilocanos and Tagalogs from the first generations who lived in the province learned Kapampangan and/or Pangasinan. English is widely understood as well.

Spanish influence is very visible in the province as shown by religious adherence. Roman Catholicism is professed by 83% of the population.[citation needed]Aglipayan is an important minority religion while some other Christian groups are also present. The St. Michael Archangel Parish Church was the oldest religious structure in the entire province until it was burned in 1997.

Because the province is landlocked, its fish production is limited to fishpens, but it has vast river systems and irrigation, on the Zambales boundary to its west, forest land provides timber for the logging industry. Mineral reserves such as manganese and iron can also be found along the western section.

Tarlac has its own rice and corn mills, sawmills and logging outfits, it has three sugar-refining centrals and hosts many sugar products in Central Luzon, especially the Muscovado sugar of the municipality of Victoria. Other firms service agricultural needs such as fertilizers, among its cottage industries, ceramics has become available because of the abundant supply of clay. Some of the major industries here involve making are chicharon (pork skin chips) and iniruban in the municipality of Camiling and Ilang-Ilang products of Anao. Tilapia production is also improving in Tarlac, with an aim to make the province the second "Tilapia Capital of Central Luzon" after its mother province, Pampanga.

Belenismo sa Tarlac was launched by Isabel Cojuangco-Suntay, sister of former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., to transform the province into the Belen Capital of the Philippines. The Belen Festival began in September 2007, with the first Belen-making workshop conducted on December 16, 2007. Organizers have intended the festival to become an annual event in the province. Senator Loren Legarda led the awarding of the first Belen-making competition where Tarlac PNP Office Belen, built by at least 24 policemen, won the first prize.

Belenismo in Spanish means the art of making Belen, a representation of the Nativity scene in which the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus) is visited by the three wise men who came to the manger through the guidance of a star.[9]

Melting Pot Festival

The Malatarlak Festival, celebrated every January in Tarlac City, is one of the most remarkable festivals in the province; in 2011, the City Mayor then changed the name of the festival to Melting Pot Festival, but it is still remembered by its former name. The festival is a commemoration to the first people who built civilization in the province, the Aetas.

Chicharon Iniruban Festival

It is a festivity that is yearly celebrated in the town of Camiling during the last week of October, it is intended as a preparation for All Saints' Day and a Thanksgiving Celebration for the good harvest and for the good quality of meat products especially the chicharon or Bagnet. It also features the exotic and delicious rice cake Iniruban, as called by Ilocanos, the festival's highlights are the street dancing competition, Miss Iniruban beauty pageant, and the municipality's agri-trade. It is the oldest cultural celebration in the province introduced in 2000.

The highest seat of political power of the province is located at a hill in Brgy. San Vicente, Tarlac City, the present structure was finished in 1909. During the Japanese occupation, the provincial capitol was vacated and used as the provincial headquarters of the Imperial Army, the capitol suffered great damages during the Second World War, but afterwards, in 1946, the United States of America helped rebuild and improve its structure. Because of its historical background, the picture of the capitol façade appeared in the previous version of the 500 peso bill.[10]

Tarlac City
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Tarlac City, officially the City of Tarlac, is a first class and capital city of the province of Tarlac in the Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 342,493 people. Tarlac City was proclaimed a Highly Urbanized City under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the city is situated at the center of the province. To its north

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Tarlac City Hall

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MacArthur Highway in Tarlac

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Flag

Provinces of the Philippines
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The provinces of the Philippines are the primary political and administrative divisions of the Philippines. There are 81 provinces at present, further subdivided into component cities and municipalities, the National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are independent of any provincial government. Each province is governed by a legislatu

Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a

1.
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.

Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila a

Regions of the Philippines
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In the Philippines, regions, ISO 3166-2, PH) are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Currently, the republic of the Philippines is divided into 18 regions. Most government offices are established by region instead of individual provincial offices, the regions themsel

Central Luzon
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The region contains the largest plain in the country and produces most of the countrys rice supply, earning itself the nickname Rice Granary of the Philippines. Its provinces are, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Central Luzon Region is located north of Manila, the nations capital. Central Luzon produces the most rice in the

1.
Location in the Philippines

Sangguniang Panlalawigan
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The Sangguniang Panlalawigan, commonly known as the Provincial Board, is the Filipino language name given to the legislatures in Philippine provinces. They are the branch of the province and their powers. Along with the governor, the executive branch of the province. Encomiendas were organized only for the purposes of collecting tribute that went i

1.
Number of regular seats in every provincial board.

Governor
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A governor is, in most cases, a public official with the power to govern the executive branch of a non-sovereign or sub-national level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, governor may be the title of a politician who governs a constituent state and these companies operate as a major state within a state with its own arme

Cities of the Philippines
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A city is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. As of December 12,2015, there are 145 cities, Cities are entitled to at least one representative in the Philippine House of Representatives if its population reaches 250,000. They are allowed to use a common seal, only an Act of Congress can create or amend a city charter, and with

Municipalities of the Philippines
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A municipality is a local government unit in the Philippines. Municipalities are also usually called towns and they are distinct from cities, which are a different category of local government unit. Provinces of the Philippines are divided into cities and municipalities, which in turn, are divided into barangays, as of June 2015, there are 1,490 mu

Anao, Tarlac
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Anao is a 5th class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 11,528 people, Anao covers an area of 2,387 hectares in an area that was formerly part of Pangasinan. Anao is politically subdivided into 18 barangays. In the 2015 census, Anao is predominantly an Ilocano-speaking town al

1.
Anao

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Saint John Nepomucene Parish Church of Anao

Bamban, Tarlac
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Bamban is a second class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 69,466 people. The municipality of Bamban is the southernmost gateway of the melting pot province of Tarlac in the Central Plain of Luzon in the Philippines, being the southernmost town in the province, it has a common

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Bamban

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Children on roof of a school in Bamban, that was buried by lahars during the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.

3.
Santo Niño Parish Church

Camiling, Tarlac
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Camiling is a first-class urban municipality of the province of Tarlac in the Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 83,248 people, Camiling is one of the fastest-growing towns of Tarlac when it comes to income and economy. It is also considered as the richest when it comes to cultural heritage in the entire province, the

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Camiling Welcome Arch (2003) by Engr. Elmer Agustin

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One of the original image of St. Michael in the front of the destroyed church in Camiling

3.
Maria Clara's Estate

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The green rice they called Iniruban

Capas, Tarlac
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Capas is a first class highly urbanized municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines, and one of the richest towns in the province. The town also consists of numerous subdivisions and exclusive villages, according to the 2015 census, it has a population of 140,202 people. Capas is being dubbed as the “Tourism Capital of Tarlac”, apart from

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Intersection of MacArthur Highway as seen near Caltex in Capas

2.
Capas National Shine

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New town hall

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MacArthur Highway looking south, which serves as a main street of their municipality

Concepcion, Tarlac
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Concepcion is a first class highly urbanized municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 154,188 people, Concepcion is one of the largest municipalities of the province of Tarlac. It is 7.5 kilometers from the Capas junction along McArthur Highway and it covers an area of 245.7 km². The

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Concepcion

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Aquino Family Ancestral House

Gerona, Tarlac
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Gerona is a first-class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 87,531 people, the MacArthur Highway goes through the center of the town. Gerona is one of the 18 towns of the province of Tarlac and it is bounded on the north by Paniqui, on the east by the Pura, on the south by Tarlac

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Gerona

La Paz, Tarlac
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La Paz is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 64,017 people, La Paz lies in the southeast portion of the province of Tarlac,141 kilometres from Metro Manila,17 kilometres from the provincial capital and 75 kilometres from the regional center. It is bounded on the nort

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Town hall of La Paz

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La Paz Church Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage

Mayantoc, Tarlac
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Mayantoc is a third class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 32,232 people and it is nestled in the foothills of the Zambales Mountains where the Camiling River originates and provides many scenic picnic and swimming sites, making it known as the summer capital of the province.

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Mayantoc Town Hall

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Saint Joseph The Worker Parish Church of Mayantoc

Moncada, Tarlac
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Moncada is a first class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 57,787 people, the economy is primarily based on agriculture with rice, corn, vegetables, root crops, watermelons, mangoes as major products. The fishery sector, once a vibrant source of food and income needs rehabilita

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Moncada

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Public market

Paniqui, Tarlac
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Paniqui is a first class urban municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 92,606 people, geographically, Paniqui is situated between the towns of Gerona in the south and Moncada in the north. Paniqui is a Hispanized term derived from the Ilocano word pampaniki which means bat and it is

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Paniqui

Pura, Tarlac
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Pura is a fourth class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 23,712 people, puras topography is characterized by plain slopes, with Luisita fine sand loam and Pura clay loam soil. It is traversed by the Susubaen Creek and Baldo Creek and it has an average monthly rainfall of 29.5 c

1.
Pura Municipal Building

Ramos, Tarlac

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Ramos Town Hall

San Clemente, Tarlac
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San Clemente is a fifth class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 12,657 people, ignacia and Mayantoc, San Clemente is a former part of Camiling. It has a beautiful falls called Timmanguyob in its forest, San Clemente is politically subdivided into 12 barangays. San Clemente Muni

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San Clemente Town Hall

2.
Saint Jude Thaddeus Parish Church of San Clemente

3.
Welcome arch

4.
Gymnasium, basketball court

San Jose, Tarlac
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San Jose is a third-class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 36,253 people and it was created into a municipality pursuant to RA6842, ratified on April 21,1990, taken from the municipality of Tarlac City. It is also the largest municipality of the province in terms of land area,

1.
San Jose Town Hall

San Manuel, Tarlac
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San Manuel is a fourth class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 25,504 people. The town of San Manuel is a typically rustic community located at the northernmost horn of the Province of Tarlac, the Province of Nueva Ecija borders it on the east while the southern side are the m

1.
San Manuel Town Hall

Santa Ignacia, Tarlac

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Santa Ignacia

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Our Lady of Fatima Parish Church of Santa Ignacia

Victoria, Tarlac
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Victoria is a second class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 63,715 people, the municipality is located in the Province of Tarlac, geographically located in the central part of Luzon. It lies between 1”42’ north latitude and 120º35’ and 120”45 east longitude and it is bounded b

1.
Victoria Municipal Building

Barangay
–
A barangay, formerly referred to as barrio, is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward. In colloquial usage, the term refers to an inner city neighbourhood. The word barangay originated from balangay, a kind of boat used by a group of Austronesian peoples when they migr

House of Representatives of the Philippines
–
The House of Representatives of the Philippines, is the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines. It is often informally called Congress, Members of the House are officially styled as Representative and sometimes informally called Congressmen/Congresswomen and are elected to a three-year term. They can be re-elected, but cannot serve more tha

2.
House of Representatives of the Philippines Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas

Ethnic groups
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An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on similarities, such as common ancestral, language, social, cultural or national experiences. Unlike other social groups, ethnicity is often an inherited status based on the society in which one lives, in some cases, it can be adopted if a person moves into ano

3.
Some European ethnic groups, such as Basque people, do not constitute a majority in any one country.

Kapampangan people
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The Kapampangan people, also known as Pampangueños or Pampangos, are the seventh largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering about 2.89 million. They live mainly in the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan and Tarlac, as well as Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, as a result, Kapampangans now populate a region that extends beyond the political boundari

1.
Rufino Cardinal Santos: the first Filipino to be named cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Ilocano people
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The Ilokanos or Iloko people are the third largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group that mostly reside within the Ilocos Region in the northwestern seaboard of Luzon, Philippines. Most Ilokanos speak the Ilokano language, which has 40 dialects, the word Ilokano originates from Iloko, the conjugation of i- and look, which means from the bay in Ilokano

1.
Pinakbet, one of the staples of the Ilocano diet.

2.
Provinces where Ilocano people are the largest ethnic group are shown in green.

Tagalog people
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The Tagalog people is a major ethnolingustic group in the Philippines. They have a developed society due to the cultural heartland, Manila. The commonly accepted origin for the endonym Tagalog is the term tagá-ilog, an alternative theory states that the name is derived from tagá-alog, which means people from the ford. In 1821, American diplomat Edm

1.
Predominantly Tagalog-speaking regions in the Philippines. The color-schemes represent the 4 dialect zones of the language: Northern, Central, Southern, and Marinduque.

Kankanaey people
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The Kankanaey people are an Indigenous peoples of the Northern Philippines. They are part of the group of indigenous people known as the Igorot people. The Kankanaey live in western Mountain Province, northern Benguet and southeastern Ilocos Sur, the Kankanaey of western Mountain Province from the municipalities of Sagada and Besao, Mountain Provin

Languages
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Language is the ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so, and a language is any specific example of such a system. The scientific study of language is called linguistics, questions concerning the philosophy of language, such as whether words can represent experience, have been debated sinc

Kapampangan language
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The Pampangan language or Kapampangan is one of the major languages of the Philippines. Kapampangan is also understood in some municipalities of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, the language is also called as Pampango and honorifically in the Kapampangan language, as Amánung Sísuan, meaning breastfed/nurtured language. In 2012, Kapampangan is one of the la

Pangasinan language
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The Pangasinan language or Salitan Pangasinan is one of the major languages of the Philippines. Pangasinan is also understood in some municipalities in Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, the language is also called as Pangasinense or Pangalatok, which is taken from the Spanish language. In 2012, Pangasinan is one of the languages of the Philippin

1.
Area where Pangasinan is spoken according to Ethnologue

Tagalog language
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Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is officially the national language, the word Tagalog is derived from the endonym taga-log, composed of tagá- and ilog. Linguists such as Dr. Dav

2.
Predominantly Tagalog-speaking regions in the Philippines. The color-schemes represent the 4 dialect zones of the language: Northern, Central, Southern, and Marinduque The majority of residents in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur speak Bikol as their first language but these provinces nonetheless have significant Tagalog minorities. In addition, Tagalog is used as a second language across the country.

3.
Tagalog

English language
–
English /ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now the global lingua franca. Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to England, English is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states. It is the third most common language i

1.
The opening to the Old English epic poem Beowulf, handwritten in half-uncial script: Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon... "Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."

Philippine Standard Time
–
Philippine Standard Time, also known as Philippine Time and informally Juan Time, is the official name for the time in the Philippines. The country only uses one time zone, and for a short period, geographically, the Philippines lies within 116°40′ and 126°34′ east of the Prime Meridian, and is physically located within the UTC+08,00 time zone. Phi

1.
World time conversion based on Philippine Standard Time (click to enlarge).

List of ZIP codes in the Philippines
–
In the Philippines, the Philippine ZIP code is used by the Philippine Postal Corporation to simplify the distribution of mail. While in function it is similar to the ZIP code used in the United States, its form, the use of ZIP codes in the Philippines is not mandatory, however it is highly recommended by Philpost that they be used. This article pro

1.
ZIP codes per provinces according to the first two numbers.

Telephone numbers in the Philippines
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Telephone numbers in the Philippines follow an open telephone numbering plan and an open dial plan. Both plans are regulated by the National Telecommunications Commission, an agency under the Department of Information. The Philippines is assigned an international dialling code of 63 by ITU-T, telephone numbers are fixed at seven digits, with area c

1.
Fixed line area codes

Ilocano language
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Ilocano is the third most-spoken native language of the Philippines. An Austronesian language, it is related to languages as Malay, Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Maori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan. It is closely related to some of the other Austronesian languages of Northern Luzon, and has slight mutual intelligibility with the Balangao language,

Pangasinan
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Pangasinan is a province in the Philippines. Its official language is Pangasinan and its capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf. It has a land area of 5,451.01 square kilometres. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 2,956,726 people, the official number of registered vot

Nueva Ecija
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Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, Nueva Ecija borders, from the south clockwise, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora. Nueva Ecija was named by the Spanish colonizers after the city of Ecija, the sprawling and varied geological

Zambales
–
Zambales is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region in the island of Luzon. Zambales borders Pangasinan to the north, Tarlac and Pampanga to the east, Bataan to the south, with a land area of 3,830.83 square kilometres, Zambales is the second largest among the seven provinces of Central Luzon. The province is noted for its

1.
Provincial Capitol in Iba, decorated for the Mango Festival

2.
Several coves such as this in San Antonio feature the western coastline of the province.

Pampanga
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Pampanga or Pampaŋga is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Angeles City, while geographically within Pampanga, is classified as a first-class, highly urbanized city and is governed independently of the province. The name La Pampanga was given by the Spaniards, who encountered natives

Luzon
–
Luzon (/luːˈzɒn/, Tagalog pronunciation, is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. It is ranked 15th largest in the world, with a population of 52.99 million as of 2015, it is the fourth most populous island in the world, containing about 53% of the countrys total population. Luzon may also refer to one of the three island groups

Aeta people
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The Aeta, or Agta, are an indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of the island of Luzon, the Philippines. They are thought to be among the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, the Aeta were included in the group of people Negrito during Spanish Era. Various Aeta groups in northern Luzon are known as Pugut or Pugot,

1.
Clockwise from top left: Surviving Spanish troops on Barcelona after the Siege of Baler, Captured of a Filipino Revolutionary Leader by Spanish Troops, Filipino Soliers at the Siege of Baler, Monument recapturing the Battle of Imus, Filipino negotiators for the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, Filipino soldier during the near end of the Revolution.

4.
The Pacific War Council as photographed on 12 October 1942. Pictured are representatives from the United States (seated) China, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the Philippine Commonwealth.

Bataan Death March

1.
A burial detail of Filipino prisoners of war uses improvised litters to carry fallen comrades at Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, 1942, following the Bataan Death March.

1.
A graticule on the Earth as a sphere or an ellipsoid. The lines from pole to pole are lines of constant longitude, or meridians. The circles parallel to the equator are lines of constant latitude, or parallels. The graticule determines the latitude and longitude of points on the surface. In this example meridians are spaced at 6° intervals and parallels at 4° intervals.

LIST OF IMAGES

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Tarlac City
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Tarlac City, officially the City of Tarlac, is a first class and capital city of the province of Tarlac in the Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 342,493 people. Tarlac City was proclaimed a Highly Urbanized City under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the city is situated at the center of the province. To its north is Gerona and Santa Ignacia, west is San Jose, south is Capas and Concepcion and eastern boundaries are Victoria and this is also the location of Tarlac River. Tarlac City is approximately 24 metres above sea level on some parts, Tarlac City was historically a part of what is now Porac, Pampanga. Parts of Tarlac city are claimed to be among the few portions of land in the province which was not created by ancient eruptions from Mount Pinatubo, Tarlac City is politically subdivided into 76 barangays. In the 2015 census, the population of Tarlac City was 342,493 people, according to statistics compiled by the Philippine government, the most dominant religion in the city is Christianity with 73% of the population adhering to the faith. The majority of Christians are Roman Catholics followed by a concentration of Iglesia ni Cristo. Other Christian groups belong to various Protestant denominations, the remaining 27% being non-Christian such as Muslims, etc. Tarlac City is the bus stop for commuters travelling to the Ilocos Region. Many of the bus stations can be found along MacArthur Highway namely Siesta. The MacArthur Highway goes from the southern to the end of the city. There are a series of leading to Zambales and Pangasinan as well as Baguio City. Most buses passing through the town of Camiling onwards to Pangasinan usually take the Romulo Highway which forks from MacArthur Highway along Brgy, there are several shopping malls established within the city. Cut-cut, My MetroTown Mall in Brgy, sto Cristo, Palm Plaza Mall located along McArthur Highway corner F. Tanedo St. Brgy. Matatalaib, CityWalk also located in Brgy, San Roque and the Double Dragons CityMall located in Brgy. The Malatarlak Festival, celebrated every January in Tarlac City, is one of the most remarkable festivals in the province, in 2011, the City Mayor then changed the name of the festival to Melting Pot Festival, but it is still remembered by its former name. The festival is a commemoration to the first people who built civilization in the province, angeles City, Pampanga Taguig City, Metro Manila Baguio City, Benguet Bauan, Batangas Tarlac Province Official Portal Philippine Statistics Authority

2.
Provinces of the Philippines
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The provinces of the Philippines are the primary political and administrative divisions of the Philippines. There are 81 provinces at present, further subdivided into component cities and municipalities, the National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are independent of any provincial government. Each province is governed by a legislature called the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. The provinces are grouped into 18 regions based on geographical, cultural, fifteen of these regions are designated with numbers corresponding to their geographic location in order from north to south. The Cordillera Administrative Region, National Capital Region, Negros Island Region, each province is a member of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, an organization which aims to address issues affecting provincial and metropolitan government administrations. A provincial government is autonomous of other provinces within the Republic, each province is governed by two main elected branches of the government, executive and legislative. Judicial affairs are separated from provincial governance and are administered by the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the provincial governor is chief executive and head of each province. The vice governor acts as the president for each Sangguniáng Panlalawigan, every SP is composed of regularly elected members from provincial districts, as well as ex officio members. The number of regularly elected SP members allotted to each province is determined by its income class, first- and second-class provinces are provided ten regular SP members, third- and fourth-class provinces have eight, while fifth- and sixth-class provinces have six. Exceptions are provinces with more than five congressional districts, such as Cavite with 14 regularly elected SP members, every SP has designated seats for ex officio members, given to the respective local presidents of the Association of Barangay Captains, Philippine Councilors League, and Sangguniáng Kabataan. The vice governor and regular members of an SP are elected by the voters within the province, ex officio members are elected by members of their respective organisations. National intrusion into the affairs of each provincial government is limited by the Philippine Constitution, the President of the Philippines however coordinates with provincial administrators through the Department of the Interior and Local Government. For purposes of representation, each province is guaranteed its own congressional district. One congressional representative represents each district in the House of Representatives, senatorial representation is elected at an at-large basis and not apportioned through territory-based districts. Those classified as highly urbanized or independent component cities are independent from the province. Local government units classified as component cities and municipalities are under the jurisdiction of the provincial government, the provincial government does not have direct relations with individual barangays. Supervision over a government is the mandate of the mayor. Provinces are classified according to annual income based on the previous 4 calendar years

3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation

Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.

4.
Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos

5.
Regions of the Philippines
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In the Philippines, regions, ISO 3166-2, PH) are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Currently, the republic of the Philippines is divided into 18 regions. Most government offices are established by region instead of individual provincial offices, the regions themselves do not possess a separate local government, with the exception of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has an elected regional assembly and governor. The Cordillera Administrative Region was originally intended to be autonomous, since that time, other regions have been created and some provinces have been transferred from one region to another. June 22,1973, Pangasinan was transferred from Region III to Region I, july 7,1975, Region XII created and minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions. July 25,1975, Regions IX and XII declared as Autonomous Regions in Western, august 21,1975, Region IX divided into Sub-Region IX-A and Sub-Region IX-B. Minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions, november 7,1975, Metropolitan Manila created. June 2,1978, Metropolitan Manila declared as the National Capital Region, july 15,1987, Cordillera Administrative Region created. August 1,1989, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao created, Region XII reverted to an administrative region. October 23,1989, First creation of Cordillera Autonomous Region, ratification rejected by residents in a plebiscite. October 12,1990, Executive Order 429 issued by President Corazon Aquino to reorganize the Mindanao regions, february 23,1995, Region XIII created and minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions. Sultan Kudarat transferred to Region XI,1997, Minor reorganization of some Mindanao regions. December 22,1997, Second creation of Cordillera Autonomous Region, ratification rejected by residents in a plebiscite. December 18,1998, Sultan Kudarat returned to Region XII, september 19,2001, Most Mindanao regions reorganized and some renamed. May 17,2002, Region IV-A and Region IV-B created from the former Region IV region, may 23,2005, Palawan transferred from Region IV-B to Region VI, Mimaropa renamed to Mimaro. August 19,2005, Transfer of Palawan to Region VI held in abeyance, may 29,2015, Negros Island Region created. Negros Occidental and Bacolod from Region VI and Negros Oriental from Region VII transferred to form new region, july 17,2016, Republic Act No.10879 established the Southwestern Tagalog Region from the former Region IV-B. As of May 2015, the Philippines comprises 18 administrative regions and these regions are geographically organized into the three island groups of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao

6.
Central Luzon
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The region contains the largest plain in the country and produces most of the countrys rice supply, earning itself the nickname Rice Granary of the Philippines. Its provinces are, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Central Luzon Region is located north of Manila, the nations capital. Central Luzon produces the most rice in the whole country, excess rice is delivered and imported to other provinces of the Philippines. The City of San Fernando, in Pampanga, is designated as the regional center, Aurora was transferred from Region IV through Executive Order No.103 on May 2002. Eighty percent of the population of Central Luzon is Roman Catholic, other religions represented are Protestants, Islam, and Iglesia Ni Cristo. The Members Church of God International headquarters is located in Apalit, there are also other denominations such as Jesus Is Lord, Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ, Jesus Miracle Crusade, United Methodist Church and others. Central Luzon comprises 7 provinces,2 highly urbanized cities,12 component cities,116 municipalities,3,102 barangays The Central Luzon Region has fourteen cities. San Jose del Monte is the city with the most population while Angeles is the most densely populated city in the region, Tarlac City is the largest based on land area. 2007 Central Luzon hog cholera outbreak Super regions of the Philippines Central Luzon Local Search North Luzon Super Region, Potentials North Luzon Super Region, Projects Executive Order No.103

Central Luzon
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Location in the Philippines

7.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan
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The Sangguniang Panlalawigan, commonly known as the Provincial Board, is the Filipino language name given to the legislatures in Philippine provinces. They are the branch of the province and their powers. Along with the governor, the executive branch of the province. Encomiendas were organized only for the purposes of collecting tribute that went in part to the Roman Catholic Church, the Spanish army, later on areas which were organized and given the designation of province were led by an appointed alcalde who performed judicial, fiscal and executive functions. American rule brought radical changes to the system of government in the country. In 1901 the Philippine Commission enacted Act No,83, known as the Provincial Government Act, which outlined the powers, responsibilities and composition of the provincial government. As civil government took hold, the governorship was made elective, the composition of provincial boards were also later modified, with the treasurer and third member taken out and replaced by two members elected by popular vote. Not all provinces had the type of government. The passage of Republic Act No, however, the Board still had limited real legislative powers, as the provincial government was merely serving as an extension of national government. Republic Act No.5185 was enacted in 1967 with the intention of decentralizing authority,51, enacted in 1979, standardized the composition of all provincial legislatures by reducing the membership of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. All provinces were entitled to 6 elective SP members, unless they had more than one million residents or less than 100,000 residents, the powers and duties of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan was codified under Batas Pambansa Blg. 337, also known as the Local Government Code of 1983, the governor served as an ex officio member, who did not vote except only to break a tie, but had the power to veto items within, or entire, Sanggunian ordinances and resolutions. However the veto can be overridden by a vote of all voting SP members. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan was retained as the branch of all provincial governments under the 1987 Constitution. Since 1992 SP members are elected from districts to ensure geographical representation, the powers, duties and functions of the Sanggunian are outlined in Section 468 of the Local Government Code of 1991. The legislative body is tasked in general to enact ordinances, approve resolutions and appropriate funds for the welfare of the province. In the proper exercise of the powers of the province. The provincial vice-governor serves as its officer, who do not vote except in cases to break a tie

Sangguniang Panlalawigan
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Number of regular seats in every provincial board.

8.
Governor
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A governor is, in most cases, a public official with the power to govern the executive branch of a non-sovereign or sub-national level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, governor may be the title of a politician who governs a constituent state and these companies operate as a major state within a state with its own armed forces. For example, in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, there are governors, school governors. The adjective pertaining to a governor is gubernatorial, from the Latin root gubernyare, the historical female form is governess, though female officials are referred to by the gender-neutral form governor of the noun to avoid confusion with other meanings of the term. Indeed, many regions of the pre-Roman antiquity were ultimately replaced by Roman standardized provincial governments after their conquest by Rome, in Pharaonic times, the governors of each of the various provinces in the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt are usually known by the Greek word. The core function of a Roman governor was as a magistrate or judge, and the management of taxation, under the Republic and the early Empire, however, a governor also commanded military forces in his province. Republican governors were all men who had served in senior magistracies in Rome in the previous year, a special case was Egypt, a rich private domain and vital granary, where the Emperor almost inherited the theocratic status of a Pharaoh. The Emperor was represented there by a sui generis styled praefectus augustalis. Otherwise, the governors of provinces had various titles, some known as consularis, apart from Egypt and the East, each diocese was directed by a governor known as a vicarius. The prefectures were directed by praefecti praetorio and this system survived with few significant changes until the collapse of the empire in the West, and in the East, the breakdown of order with the Persian and Arab invasions of the seventh century. At that stage, a new kind of governor emerged, the Strategos, today, crown colonies of the United Kingdom continue to be administered by a governor, who holds varying degrees of power. Because of the different constitutional histories of the colonies of the United Kingdom. Administrators, Commissioners and High Commissioners exercise similar powers to Governors, frequently the name Government House is given to Governors residences. The term can also be used in a generic sense, especially for compound titles which include it, Governor-general. In the United Kingdoms remaining overseas territories, the governor is normally a direct appointee of the British Government, the Governors chief responsibility is for the Defence and External Affairs of the colony. In some minor overseas territories, instead of a Governor, there is an Administrator or Commissioner, in Australia, each state has the governor as its formal representative of the Queen, as head of the state government. It is not an office but a ceremonial one. Each state governor is appointed by the Queen of Australia on the advice of the Premier, State Governors have emergency reserve powers but these are rarely used

9.
Cities of the Philippines
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A city is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. As of December 12,2015, there are 145 cities, Cities are entitled to at least one representative in the Philippine House of Representatives if its population reaches 250,000. They are allowed to use a common seal, only an Act of Congress can create or amend a city charter, and with this city charter Congress confers on a city certain powers that regular municipalities or even other cities may not have. A citys local government is headed by an elected by popular vote. The vice mayor serves as the officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. Upon receiving their charters, cities also receive a full complement of executive departments to serve their constituents. Some departments are established on a basis, depending on the needs of the city. Source, Local Government Code of 1991, Cities, like municipalities, are composed of barangays, which can range from urban neighborhoods, to rural communities. Barangays are sometimes grouped into officially defined administrative districts, examples of such are the cities of Manila, Davao, Iloilo, and Samal. Some cities such as Caloocan, Manila and Pasay even have a level between the district and barangay levels, called a zone. However, geographic districts and zones are not political units, there are no elected city government officials in these city-specific administrative levels, rather they only serve to make city planning, statistics-gathering other administrative tasks easier and more convenient. Cities are classified according to annual income based on the previous four calendar years. There are currently 33 highly urbanized cities in the Philippines,16 of which are located in Metro Manila, Component Cities, Cities which do not meet the preceding requirements are deemed part of the province in which they are geographically located. If a component city is located along the boundaries of two or more provinces, it shall be considered part of the province of which it used to be a municipality, majority of the remaining cities are considered component cities. The five exceptions are listed below, independent Component Cities, Cities of this type have charters that explicitly prohibit their residents to vote for provincial officials. These cities are considered independent from the province in which they are geographically located, there are five such cities, Cotabato, Dagupan, Naga, Ormoc and Santiago. There are 38 independent cities in the Philippines, all of which are classified as highly urbanized or independent component cities. Some independent cities are still grouped with their provinces for the purposes of representation in the Congress of the Philippines

Cities of the Philippines
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1.
Cities of the Philippines
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Philippines
Cities of the Philippines
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2.
Cities of the Philippines
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3.

10.
Municipalities of the Philippines
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A municipality is a local government unit in the Philippines. Municipalities are also usually called towns and they are distinct from cities, which are a different category of local government unit. Provinces of the Philippines are divided into cities and municipalities, which in turn, are divided into barangays, as of June 2015, there are 1,490 municipalities across the country. A municipal district is a local government unit, previously certain areas were created first as municipal districts before they were converted into municipalities. Municipalities have some autonomy from the National Government of the Republic of the Philippines under the Local Government Code of 1991 and they have been granted corporate personality enabling them to enact local policies and laws, enforce them, and govern their jurisdictions. They can enter into contracts and other transactions through their elected and appointed officials and they are tasked with enforcing all laws, whether local or national. The National Government assists and supervises the local government to make sure that they do not violate national law, the Judicial Branch of the Republic of the Philippines also caters to the needs of local government units. Local governments, such as a municipalities, do not have their own judicial branch and these responsibilities shall be under approval of the Sangguniang Bayan. The vice mayor shall sign all warrants drawn on the municipal treasury, in circumstances where the mayor permanently or temporarily vacates the position, he shall assume executive duties and functions. While vice mayor presides over the legislature, he cannot vote unless the necessity of tie-breaking arises, laws or ordinances proposed by the Sangguniang Bayan, however, may be approved or vetoed by the mayor. If approved, they become local ordinances, if the mayor neither vetoes nor approves the proposal of the Sangguniang Bayan for ten days from the time of receipt, the proposal becomes law as if it had been signed. If vetoed, the draft is sent back to the Sangguniang Bayan, the latter may override the mayor by a vote of at least two-thirds of all its members, in which case, the proposal becomes law. A municipality, upon reaching a certain requirements – minimum population size, first, a bill must be passed in Congress, then signed into law by the President and then the residents would vote in the succeeding plebiscite to accept or reject cityhood. One benefit in being a city is that the city government gets more budget, but taxes are much higher than in municipalities

11.
Anao, Tarlac
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Anao is a 5th class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 11,528 people, Anao covers an area of 2,387 hectares in an area that was formerly part of Pangasinan. Anao is politically subdivided into 18 barangays. In the 2015 census, Anao is predominantly an Ilocano-speaking town although most are fluent in Tagalog. Other languages like Kapampangan and Pangasinan are spoken by about 10% of the population, aglipayan and Roman Catholicism are two of the predominant religions. In the center of the town near the Municipio or Presidencia is the Saint John Nepomucene Parish Church of Anao, mike Marquez Bar is its Parish Priest. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarlac at Poblacion St. Anao 2310 Tarlac, Philippines, Titular, St. John Nepomucene, Ylang Ylang festival is celebrated by the municipality to take pride of their local products, The scent of Ylang Ylang

12.
Bamban, Tarlac
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Bamban is a second class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 69,466 people. The municipality of Bamban is the southernmost gateway of the melting pot province of Tarlac in the Central Plain of Luzon in the Philippines, being the southernmost town in the province, it has a common boundary with Mabalacat, Pampanga, and in the west, with Zambales. The boundary is defined by the Parua River, which is a source of water, food. The mountainous region situated in the western part comprises almost two-thirds of the land area. Nestled in this part are the BLISS projects and to the north, the MAR settlement project, Bamban is politically subdivided into 15 barangays. The thick forest and mountains were then inhabited by the Aetas, occasionally, daring traders from Pampanga and the Tagalog province, mostly enterprising Chinese, braved the wilderness to go northward to Capas and Tarlac. The settlers started small clearings in the growth of bamban plants which covered vast portions of the land bordering the river a small distance from the foothills. Settlers upon settlers came to carve clearings in the land, about 1700, Agustinian Recollects came and established the Mission de Pueblos de Bamban. But the pueblo was then a part of Pampanga, in 1837, a new boundary line was established, thereby permanently making Bamban part of the province of Tarlac. Official recognition as a town was sanctioned by the gobernadorcillo in the town of Tarlac, Don Martín Sibal was subsequently appointed head and commissioned with the rank of Capitán. Among the first settlers were the Sibal, Lugtu, Dayrit, Macale, Vergara, Manipon, during the revolution of 1896, Bamban was one of the first towns to take up arms against the Spaniards. Northwest of the town situated among the hills are remnants of strongholds built by brave bands of Bambanenses who joined Gen. Servilliano Aquino in the uprising in Tarlac, up to this time, a portion of the foothills in the area is called Batiawan or look-out point. Many a brave son died in this movement for liberation, when the Americans came in 1900, the small pueblo gradually grew into a teeming town. The Bamban Sugar Central was established and further gave impetus to its growth, Don Pablo Lagman was the first to be appointed presidente and Don Laureano Campo as vice-presidente under the American military government. Other prominent families then took over the helm of government, during the Commonwealth era, the Sibals, the Lumboys, the Santoses, the Punsalangs, to mention a few, enjoyed political power until the outbreak of World War II. Bamban was like the phoenix, which locals felt must be resurrected from its ashes. The whole población was devastated and burned during the liberation, undaunted, the people returned from hiding and began rebuilding even while the campaign was raging deep in the mountains. Growth was fast because of proximity of Clark Air Base, but Bamban can not be the same again

Bamban, Tarlac
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Bamban
Bamban, Tarlac
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Children on roof of a school in Bamban, that was buried by lahars during the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
Bamban, Tarlac
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Santo Niño Parish Church

13.
Camiling, Tarlac
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Camiling is a first-class urban municipality of the province of Tarlac in the Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 83,248 people, Camiling is one of the fastest-growing towns of Tarlac when it comes to income and economy. It is also considered as the richest when it comes to cultural heritage in the entire province, the municipality also features cultural antiquity such as its churches, ancestral houses, and ruins. Camiling is the major north-western municipality in Tarlac and it is also 160 kilometres north-north-west of Manila, and 67 kilometres south-south-west of Dagupan City in Pangasinan. It is the center of an area composed of about eight towns. It is the gateway to central and western Pangasinan through the Romulo Highway and it borders San Clemente on the west, Bayambang from the north, Sta. Ignacia and Mayantoc to the south and Paniqui and Moncada by the east and it is also known for its famous Chicharon Camiling and its green native rice cake called Nilubyan. Mostly of plain topography but some parts are hilly to mountainous in which the barangays of Papaac, Bacsay, Birbira and Cayasan, to name a few. The deeper part of the mountains can be described as a place where animals live, such as deer, Toddy cat, wild boar. Early in the 18th century, the community was a sitio of Paniqui, before and after, Paniqui was also part of Bayambang, the towns name is derived from a tree called kamiring which at that time grew abundantly in the wilderness and subsequently changed to Camiling. The community was originally a vast area of Cogon growth interposed with thick forestalls areas stretching into the Zambales mountain ranges, a wide river cut through it. The early inhabitants of the place were the Aetas who make a living by gathering fruit from trees, hunting. With the coming first of the Pangasinenses and later the Ilocanos from the north, the new settlers first occupied the swampy land, now known as Cacamilingan on the right side of the river. In time, these settlers began moving to the left opposite shore because of more frequent disastrous floods, to this new location, the residents therein built a small church with Saint Michael as the patron saint. Camiling became a District Commission from 1834 to 1837 founded by Don Francisco Soriano, in 1838, Camiling became an independent town, formally separated from the mother town of Paniqui and with Don Vicente Galsim, as the first Gobernadorcillo. Don Jose Sabado, the last to serve under the Spanish regime, Camiling was a first-class municipality during the 1970s but was reclassified when the Local Government Code went into effect in the early 1990s.51 pesos. In 2008, Camilings income was more than 72,463,893,00 pesos with average growth of more than 5. 164% per year. In the 2015 census, the population of Camiling, Tarlac, was 83,248 people, many old towns districts are based on the Pangasinan language like Anoling, Cayaoan, Libueg, Lasong, Tuec, Pindangan, Telbang

Camiling, Tarlac
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Camiling Welcome Arch (2003) by Engr. Elmer Agustin
Camiling, Tarlac
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One of the original image of St. Michael in the front of the destroyed church in Camiling
Camiling, Tarlac
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Maria Clara's Estate
Camiling, Tarlac
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The green rice they called Iniruban

14.
Capas, Tarlac
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Capas is a first class highly urbanized municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines, and one of the richest towns in the province. The town also consists of numerous subdivisions and exclusive villages, according to the 2015 census, it has a population of 140,202 people. Capas is being dubbed as the “Tourism Capital of Tarlac”, apart from being known as the final site of infamous Bataan Death March, it is also known for Mount Pinatubo treks, where thousands of mountaineers and visitors go. The town has some factories like the PilMiCo. Capas is a part of the Third Municipal district of Tarlac with Noel L. Villanueva as the present Third District Representative of Tarlac, Capas has relatively high ground, hilly places near the mountain range are at an approximate 46 meters. It is bordered by San Jose on the north, Tarlac City on the north-east, Concepcion on the east, Botolan, Zambales, on the west and south-west, the west side of the town is mountainous while the east side is a plain. The town is known as The Gateway to Pinatubo Volcano. The town also consists of Hot springs and several lakes like the Tambo Lake. Many of the streams in the province contain small bits of petrified wood, fish, fresh water crabs, namria and Dingding creek merge as the two major tributaries to Lucong river in Concepcion. Most of Tarlacs waterways that originate from Mount Pinatubo pass through Capas, including the Bulsa Moriones River, Lucia River that form Tarlac River. Capas is politically subdivided into 20 barangays. Barangay Cutcut, meaning hole, malutung gabun or Red sand has a replica of Capas National Shrine which is sometimes featured on Philippine maps. Pinagpala which has a farm, mango plantations etc. Rosario is also the location of Capas Public Cemetery or Cabu Santu, other schools in Capas include Capas East Central School, Capas High School, Gabaldon Elementary School, Montessori School of St. Nicholas among others. Wellspring High School and Capas Christian School are the new private schools, cubcub, Cut-Cut II, Santo Domingo I, Santo Domingo II, and Santo Rosario are the towns poblacion and location of the public market. Rita is among the smallest barrios of the municipality but has a church, Barangay Talaga is known for its production of Tinapa or smoked fish, Barangay Dolores has its garden plants and Sto. Domingo has the Capas Junction which also has fast food chains like the town proper, Barangay Manlapig has rice fields and is among the liveliest barangays during the evening. Barangay Lawy is known for being a place for many of the first Ilocano settlers in the municipality, Barangay Mangga used to be filled with the fruit bearing tree or presumably. Barangay Estrada is the last stop before reaching Tarlac City through McArthur highway, Juliana are mountainous and hilly while filled with vast lands and forest, presumably the place where the earliest settlers of the town stayed

Capas, Tarlac
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Intersection of MacArthur Highway as seen near Caltex in Capas
Capas, Tarlac
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Capas National Shine
Capas, Tarlac
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New town hall
Capas, Tarlac
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MacArthur Highway looking south, which serves as a main street of their municipality

15.
Concepcion, Tarlac
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Concepcion is a first class highly urbanized municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 154,188 people, Concepcion is one of the largest municipalities of the province of Tarlac. It is 7.5 kilometers from the Capas junction along McArthur Highway and it covers an area of 245.7 km². The second is Parua river which originates from Sacobia-Bamban river that comes from Mount Pinatubo, both rivers are utilized for irrigating agricultural lands of the town, consisting mainly of rice and sugar crops. Parua river which at times appears as a bed of sand due to the scarcity of water, is also a Quarry site for sand and Ash used as construction material etc. Concepcion is politically subdivided into 45 barangays. In 1860, the towns of Concepcion, a great inundation devastated the whole settlement of then San Bartolome in 1863 and the people were left with no other choice but to abandon the place. It was also at this point when the people were divided as to the place where they are to resettle, some went North and others went South. The first group headed by Don Pablo Luciano, the Governadorcillo, organized its own settlement in the slope of Mt. Arayat down South, eventually, the place was renamed Magalang. Most of the settlers became dissatisfied with the place as it abounds with snakes and was scarce in water and they moved further South to a place we now know as Concepcion. The settlers began clearing the land and built huts and roads, after several years, they named their place Concepcion, after the Immaculate Concepcion, who is believed to be miraculous and to possess power over snakes that abound the place. 1863, A catastrophic flood devastated the town of San Bartolome which gave birth to the towns of Concepcion. 1897, The Katipunan was organized under General Servillano Aquino, 1898–1900, The first Municipal President, Moises Castro, was elected under the short-lived Philippine Republic under General Emilio Aguinaldo. 1900, General Servillano Aquino was captured by the Americans and sentenced to hang,1902, Captain Smith established the First American government in town and appointed Don Marciano Barrera as the First Filipino President. 1904, General Aquino was pardoned by order of the President of the United States,1911, The Gabaldon School building was constructed, costing about fifty thousand pesos. 1918, Influenza epidemic hit the town and people died by the hundreds,1929, The municipal building worth fifty thousand pesos and two bandstands worth five thousand pesos each were constructed. 1935, The Commonwealth government was installed with Don Gregorio Palma as the Municipal President,1939, The town plaza, costing twenty thousand pesos, was fenced and named Don Benigno Q. Aquino Sr. Memorial Park. 1942, The Japanese occupation of the town began, a period of brutalities,1942, The built of the military garrisons of the Imperial Japanese Army was stations active in the town. December 27,1944, Japanese occupation forces left the town, HUKBALAHAP took over until January 1945. S

16.
Gerona, Tarlac
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Gerona is a first-class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 87,531 people, the MacArthur Highway goes through the center of the town. Gerona is one of the 18 towns of the province of Tarlac and it is bounded on the north by Paniqui, on the east by the Pura, on the south by Tarlac City, and on the west by Santa Ignacia. The town is 72 kilometres from San Fernando City, the center,55 kilometres from Angeles City. Gerona has an area of 12,889 hectares of plain. The Tarlac River, which originates from the slopes of the Zambales Mountain, cuts across the west central areas. The eastern area consists of 31 barangays with total area of 90.50 square kilometres representing 63. 9% of the total area. It is characterized as plain, low-lying agricultural land, the second part is the Western Area consisting of 13 barangays with total area of 50.97 square kilometres representing 36. 03% of the total land area. It is characterized by hilly and rugged agricultural land and is also forested. Gerona is politically subdivided into 44 barangays. In the 2015 census, ramon Capuno Parochial Vicar, Rev. Fr. History New Website Isdaan Floating Restaurant Philippine Standard Geographic Code Philippine Census Information

Gerona, Tarlac
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Gerona

17.
La Paz, Tarlac
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La Paz is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 64,017 people, La Paz lies in the southeast portion of the province of Tarlac,141 kilometres from Metro Manila,17 kilometres from the provincial capital and 75 kilometres from the regional center. It is bounded on the north by the town of Victoria, on the east by the Province of Nueva Ecija, the municipality has a total land area of 11,433 hectares, which represents 2. 34% of the entire provincial area. La Paz is politically subdivided into 18 barangays, of which barangays San Isidro and San Roque are considered as urban areas, La Paz is politically subdivided into 21 barangays, The early history of La Paz is unclear. Legends state that there was an old pueblo called Cama Juan situated along the bank of the Chico River, bordering the province of Tarlac, when the Chico River overflowed during a storm, a great flood swept the entire pueblo during the night. The flood is said to have devastated the area, claiming many lives and this forced the inhabitants of Cama Juan to evacuate. The old site is known as Balen Melakwan or Abandoned Town, the inhabitants chose a field of evergreen grass and shrubbery on which to rebuild, which they named Matayumtayum. Towards the end of the century, Francisco Macabulos and Captain Mariano Ignacio selected a more centrally located site for the future town to be known as La Paz. This existed only as a barrio of the town of Tarlac until 1892 and its emergence as a new town gave its citizens a chance to run their own government with Martin Aquino as the first Governadorcillo. La Paz was made the first seat of the government of the province of Tarlac during the Spanish regime with Gen. Francisco Makabulos as its first provincial governor. In the 2015 census, the population of La Paz, Tarlac, was 64,017 people, the feast of Nuestra De Senora De La Paz every January 23 to 24. Other tourism attractions in the town include Macabulos ancestral house, Nuestra Senora De La Paz Church, the municipality has an approximate total road network of 78.863 kilometres which are classified into four categories, namely, national, provincial, municipal and barangay roads. The barangay road network has a length of 49.264 kilometres. The roads are paved with concrete, asphalt, gravel or dirt. The gravel and dirt roads have a length of 42.794 kilometres

18.
Mayantoc, Tarlac
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Mayantoc is a third class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 32,232 people and it is nestled in the foothills of the Zambales Mountains where the Camiling River originates and provides many scenic picnic and swimming sites, making it known as the summer capital of the province. The most common road to Mayantoc starts at Crossing Mayantoc, at the highway to Camiling. Mayantoc is administratively divided into 24 barangays, The first settlers of Mayantoc before the coming of Christian migrants were the negritos of the Abiling tribe. As they arrived in numbers, so the natives were soon forced to move deeper into the forest areas of the Zambales mountain range. These villages later formed the barangay of Mayantoc under the township of Camiling, as the barangay progressed and grew in the size and population, its inhabitants retained Mayantoc as its official name. There were many others who helped in the birth of the new town, including Governor Gardner, Don Sergio Osmena, the speaker of House of Representative also helped in the granting of the peoples petition. Then the American Governor General Francisco Burton Harrison promulgated Executive Order No.96 declaring Mayantoc a separate town from Camiling, Don Manuel de Leon, then Governor of Tarlac province appointed Castillan Antonio Sanz, as the town first Municipal President. However Sanz was autocratic in Spanish customs and was in office for six months, before a petition seeking his ousting. When the provincial board of Tarlac received the petition, Antonio Sanz was unseated, to be succeeded by the Vice President and that same year, an election was held in which Don Francisco P. Santos became the first elected Municipal President of Mayantoc. The question of leadership having been decided, the townspeople then took up the task of building the physical facilities of the community. The problem of a presentable Presidencia came up, but the municipal government was very poor. Bridges and roads were urgently needed, canals along the roads of the town, especially around the plaza, needed digging. There were plenty of problems but few resources, the principal resource was the people themselves, imbued with pioneering spirit, cooperative and loyal to the leadership. The people donated whatever material they could afford, and freely gave their time, in the 2015 census, the population of Mayantoc, Tarlac, was 32,232 people, with a density of 100 inhabitants per square kilometre or 260 inhabitants per square mile. Mayantoc Website Town of Mayantoc History

19.
Moncada, Tarlac
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Moncada is a first class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 57,787 people, the economy is primarily based on agriculture with rice, corn, vegetables, root crops, watermelons, mangoes as major products. The fishery sector, once a vibrant source of food and income needs rehabilitation after the onslaught of lahar flows resulting from the Mount Pinatubo eruption, there is a growing retail and service sector in the poblacion along the national highway. Light industries are yet to evolve in the municipality to generate much needed employment, ilocano, Kapampangan and Pangasinan are commonly spoken, with Tagalog and English as official languages used for secondary education, business and governance. Moncada is politically subdivided into 37 barangays. Moncada did not come from the word MUSCADA but was copied from a town in Spain, Montcada during the Spanish era. The original settlers in the area are the Pangasinenses followed by the Ilocanos were migrants from the Ilocos region, the name of the place was originally derived from the crop grown and later rephrased to Moncada, in honor of a Spanish nobility. The Chinese community led by the Lao and Co families likewise contributed significantly to the economic development, Lopez popularly known as Kamote, who defeated an Aquino-Cojuangco candidate for the post of Tarlac governor in the 1949 election. Life then was not much of a struggle and food came in plenty, local leaders serve at the pleasure of the electorates, who had utmost regard for delicadeza and opportunities were made available to those who work for it. The struggle against the authoritarian regime realigned the political forces in Tarlac by the early 1980s, Lopez, shifting support to the rival Aquino-Cojuangco political clan. The hope for a new beginning unfortunately was lost to decadent ways of less discerning electorates, an exodus of bright minds sought and served ideals in other sectors and foreign lands. Moncada is at the part of Paniqui. In the 2015 census, the population of Moncada, Tarlac, was 57,787 people, Senator Luis Lopez Morales Senator Macario Peralta Senator Jose J. Roy Governor Antonio Espejo Lopez Philippine Standard Geographic Code Philippine Census Information

Moncada, Tarlac
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Moncada
Moncada, Tarlac
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Public market

20.
Paniqui, Tarlac
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Paniqui is a first class urban municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 92,606 people, geographically, Paniqui is situated between the towns of Gerona in the south and Moncada in the north. Paniqui is a Hispanized term derived from the Ilocano word pampaniki which means bat and it is the birthplace of former President Corazon C. The town was part of the province of Pangasinan. This is perhaps due to the influence of education, migration, television and mobile communications, the birth of Paniqui could be traced way back in 1712 when the provincial government of Pangasinan sent a group of men south of Bayambang, Pangasinan for the expansion of the Christian Faith. The pioneering group was led by two brothers, Raymundo and Manuel Paragas of Dagupan and established the Local Government in a Sitio called manggang marikit now apart of Guimba, Nueva Ecija. Surprisingly, in this sitio, sere a great number of mammals called by Ilocanos pampaniki and it was a historical sitio where the first Moro in the Philippines, Sultan Ali Mudin was baptized in 1750 and embraced Christianity. Paniqui was a town that covered a wide area that time. Some of the barrios that formerly comprised Paniqui were San Roque now Cuyapo, Barong now Gerona, San Jose De Camiling now Camiling, Bani now Ramos, San Ramon now Moncada, the period between 1750 and 1896 were painful years of Spanish tyranny and oppression. Because of the insurrectos and sometimes bandits conveniently sprouted among the people that made sporadic attacks upon the Conquistadores and these attacks on the Spaniards, who came on the islands bringing the Sword and the Cross, were marred by cholera and smallpox epidemics punctuated by floods and typhoons. These incidents made a prelude to the end of the Spanish occupation in Paniqui, the advent of American occupation saw a happy transition from the almost aristocratic and enigmatic characteristic of Spanish conquistadores to the democratic way of life under American tutelage. In Paniqui, the Japanese were confronted with an enemy which is mighty in its fury, the Guerilla outfit preserved the landmarks of Paniqui like the sugar central, municipal building, public school buildings and practically all the unpretentious private homes. One of the bloodiest chapters of this outfit was recorded on May 8,1945. Ines where 52 sons of Nippon were killed. Paniqui is politically subdivided into 35 barangays. In the 2015 census, Philippine Standard Geographic Code Philippine Census Information

Paniqui, Tarlac
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Paniqui

21.
Pura, Tarlac
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Pura is a fourth class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 23,712 people, puras topography is characterized by plain slopes, with Luisita fine sand loam and Pura clay loam soil. It is traversed by the Susubaen Creek and Baldo Creek and it has an average monthly rainfall of 29.5 centimetres, an average temperature range of 24.2 to 31.4 °C, and a wind speed of 7.1 knots/hour. Pura is politically subdivided into 16 barangays. In the 2015 census, the population of Pura, Tarlac, was 23,712 people, with a density of 760 inhabitants per square kilometre or 2,000 inhabitants per square mile

Pura, Tarlac
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Pura Municipal Building

22.
San Clemente, Tarlac
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San Clemente is a fifth class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 12,657 people, ignacia and Mayantoc, San Clemente is a former part of Camiling. It has a beautiful falls called Timmanguyob in its forest, San Clemente is politically subdivided into 12 barangays. San Clemente Municipal Hall Saint Jude Thaddeus Parish Church of San Clemente Philippine Standard Geographic Code Philippine Census Information

23.
San Jose, Tarlac
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San Jose is a third-class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 36,253 people and it was created into a municipality pursuant to RA6842, ratified on April 21,1990, taken from the municipality of Tarlac City. It is also the largest municipality of the province in terms of land area, the Eco-Tourism park and Monasterio de Tarlac is located at Barangay Lubigan. The monastery holds a relic of the Holy Cross and is the one known to possess such in Asia. The monasterys height is at approximately 300 meters, a deep portion of the Tarlac River which was unaffected by lahar still exists, and for a fee of about 20 pesos, depending on the owner, a visitor can go for a traditional balsa or bamboo raft ride. The Jeepney ride from central terminal in Tarlac City costs about 40 pesos to Barangay Villa Aglipay, the first trip leaves at around 10,00 a. m and the last trip leaves at around 7,00 p. m. From the drop point, about three people can pay for a ride to the monastery at an agreed cost since not all vehicles are capable of getting there

San Jose, Tarlac
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San Jose Town Hall

24.
San Manuel, Tarlac
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San Manuel is a fourth class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 25,504 people. The town of San Manuel is a typically rustic community located at the northernmost horn of the Province of Tarlac, the Province of Nueva Ecija borders it on the east while the southern side are the municipalities of Anao and Moncada. Ilocano, Kapampangan and Pangasinan are commonly spoken, with Tagalog and English as official languages used for education, business. The municipality is known for their Buridibud festival, San Manuel is politically subdivided into 15 barangays. They renamed it “San Manuel” in honor of their benefactor, the late Don Manuel de Leon, San Manuel was, as other developing town, originally covered with dense forest, lakes and creeks. Wild animals roamed into the wilderness, adventurous people from Zambales and Pangasinan and later those from the Ilocos region settled into the area to start a new life. Clearing the area with crude implements, they planted corn and upland rice supplementing daily food with meat from deer, formerly, the residents of this barrio did not know which jurisdiction they belonged. There are four towns surrounding the area namely, Moncada in the south, Anao and Cuyapo in the east, neither of these duly organized municipalities claimed the sprawling area. However, an incident in the barrio helped the people solved the “jurisdiction” problem, a man gathering bees fell from the tree and died. The people immediately reported the incident to the nearby localities but only the Moncada authorities came, spurred by the gestures of the people of that town, they joined and submitted themselves under their jurisdiction and finally became an integral part of Moncada. In the 2015 census, the population of San Manuel, Tarlac, was 25,504 people, Philippine Standard Geographic Code Philippine Census Information

San Manuel, Tarlac
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San Manuel Town Hall

25.
Victoria, Tarlac
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Victoria is a second class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 63,715 people, the municipality is located in the Province of Tarlac, geographically located in the central part of Luzon. It lies between 1”42’ north latitude and 120º35’ and 120”45 east longitude and it is bounded by Tarlac City, municipalities of Pura Gerona, La Paz and to the east by the Province of Nueva Ecija. The municipality has a land area of 11,150 hectares. Victoria is politically subdivided into 26 barangays. In the 2015 census, official Website Philippine Standard Geographic Code Philippine Census Information

Victoria, Tarlac
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Victoria Municipal Building

26.
Barangay
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A barangay, formerly referred to as barrio, is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward. In colloquial usage, the term refers to an inner city neighbourhood. The word barangay originated from balangay, a kind of boat used by a group of Austronesian peoples when they migrated to the Philippines, as of June 2015, there were 42,029 barangays throughout the Philippines. When the first Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century, the name barangay originated from balangay, a Malay word meaning sailboat. The first barangays started as small communities of around 50 to 100 families. By the time of contact with Spaniards, many barangays have developed into large communities, some of these barangays had large populations. In Panay, some barangays had 20,000 inhabitants, in Leyte,15,000 inhabitants, in Cebu,3,500 residents, in Vitis,7,000 inhabitants, there were smaller barangays with less number of people. But these were generally inland communities, or if they were coastal and these smaller barangays had around thirty to one hundred houses only, and the population varies from one hundred to five hundred persons. According to Legazpi, he found communities with twenty to thirty people only, traditionally, the original “barangays” were coastal settlements of the migration of these Malayo-Polynesian people from other places in Southeast Asia. Most of the ancient barangays were coastal or riverine in nature and this is because most of the people were relying on fishing for supply of protein and for their livelihood. They also travelled mostly by water up and down rivers, trails always followed river systems, which were also a major source of water for bathing, washing, and drinking. The coastal barangays were more accessible to trade with foreigners and these were ideal places for economic activity to develop. Business with traders from other countries also meant contact with cultures and civilizations, such as those of Japan, Han Chinese, Indian people. These coastal communities acquired more cosmopolitan cultures, with developed social structures, during the Spanish rule, through a resettlement policy called the Reducción, smaller scattered barangays were consolidated to form compact towns. Each barangay was headed by the cabeza de barangay, who formed part of the Principalía - the elite ruling class of the municipalities of the Spanish Philippines and this position was inherited from the first datus, and came to be known as such during the Spanish regime. The Spanish Monarch ruled each barangay through the Cabeza, who collected taxes from the residents for the Spanish Crown. When the Americans arrived, slight changes in the structure of government was effected. Later, Rural Councils with four councilors were created to assist, now renamed Barrio Lieutenant, it was later renamed Barrio Council, the Spanish term barrio was used for much of the 20th century until 1974, when President Ferdinand Marcos ordered their renaming to barangays

27.
House of Representatives of the Philippines
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The House of Representatives of the Philippines, is the lower house of the Congress of the Philippines. It is often informally called Congress, Members of the House are officially styled as Representative and sometimes informally called Congressmen/Congresswomen and are elected to a three-year term. They can be re-elected, but cannot serve more than three consecutive terms, around eighty percent of congressmen are district representatives, representing a particular geographical area. There are 234 legislative districts in the country, each composed of about 250,000 people, there are also party-list representatives elected through the party-list system who constitute not more than twenty percent of the total number of representatives. The House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker, currently Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte, the official headquarters of the House of Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa located in the Batasan Hills in Quezon City in Metro Manila. The building is simply called Batasan and the word has also become a metonym to refer to the House of Representatives. At the beginning of American colonial rule, from March 16,1900, william Howard Taft was chosen to be the first American civilian Governor-General and the first leader of this Philippine Commission, which subsequently became known as the Taft Commission. This bicameral legislature was inaugurated in October 1907, under the leadership of Speaker Sergio Osmeña and Floor Leader Manuel L. Quezon, the Rules of the 59th United States Congress was substantially adopted as the Rules of the Philippine Legislature. It is this body, founded as the Philippine Assembly, that would continue in one form or another, in 1916, the Jones Act, officially the Philippine Autonomy Act, changed the legislative system. The Philippine Commission was abolished and a new fully elected, bicameral Philippine Legislature consisting of a House of Representatives, the legislative system was changed again in 1935. The 1935 Constitution established a unicameral National Assembly, but in 1940, through an amendment to the 1935 Constitution, a bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate was adopted. The Liberal bloc of the Nacionalistas permanently split from their ranks and these two will contest all of the elections in what appeared to be a two-party system. This set up continued until President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the 1987 Constitution restored the presidential system of government together with a bicameral Congress of the Philippines. Corazon Aquino who nominally had no party, supported the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, with the victory of Fidel V. This also meant the restoration of Lakas-NUCD as the top party in the chamber, the same would happen when Benigno Aquino won in 2010, which returned the Liberals into power. The presiding officer is the Speaker, the members of the House of Representatives who are also its officers are also ex officio members of all of the committees and has a vote. The Speaker is the head of the House of Representatives, the speaker is elected by majority of all the members of the house, including vacant seats. The speaker is elected at the convening of each Congress

House of Representatives of the Philippines
House of Representatives of the Philippines
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House of Representatives of the Philippines Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas
House of Representatives of the Philippines
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Joint session of the Philippine Legislature, Manila. November 15, 1916
House of Representatives of the Philippines
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Philippine legislature before 1924

28.
Ethnic groups
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An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on similarities, such as common ancestral, language, social, cultural or national experiences. Unlike other social groups, ethnicity is often an inherited status based on the society in which one lives, in some cases, it can be adopted if a person moves into another society. Ethnic groups, derived from the historical founder population, often continue to speak related languages. By way of language shift, acculturation, adoption and religious conversion, it is possible for individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group. Ethnicity is often used synonymously with terms such as nation or people. In English, it can also have the connotation of something exotic, generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, the largest ethnic groups in modern times comprise hundreds of millions of individuals, while the smallest are limited to a few dozen individuals. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a pan-ethnicity, whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis. The term ethnic is derived from the Greek word ἔθνος ethnos, the inherited English language term for this concept is folk, used alongside the latinate people since the late Middle English period. In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan, as the Septuagint used ta ethne to translate the Hebrew goyim the nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews. The Greek term in antiquity could refer to any large group, a host of men. In the 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of peculiar to a race, people or nation, the abstract ethnicity had been used for paganism in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an ethnic character. The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972, depending on the context that is used, the term nationality may either be used synonymously with ethnicity, or synonymously with citizenship. The process that results in the emergence of an ethnicity is called ethnogenesis, the Greeks at this time did not describe foreign nations but had also developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes. Herodotus gave an account of what defined Greek ethnic identity in his day, enumerating shared descent. Whether ethnicity qualifies as a universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf and they regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. According to Thomas Hylland Eriksen, the study of ethnicity was dominated by two distinct debates until recently, one is between primordialism and instrumentalism. In the primordialist view, the participant perceives ethnic ties collectively, as a given, even coercive

29.
Kapampangan people
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The Kapampangan people, also known as Pampangueños or Pampangos, are the seventh largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering about 2.89 million. They live mainly in the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan and Tarlac, as well as Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, as a result, Kapampangans now populate a region that extends beyond the political boundaries of the small province of Pampanga. In Bataan, Kapampangans populate the municipalities of Dinalupihan and Hermosa, Kapampangans can be found scattered all across the southern barrios of Cabiao in the province of Nueva Ecija and in the western section of the province of Bulacan. Kapampangan enclaves still exist in Tondo and other parts of the National Capital Region, Kapampangans have also migrated to Mindoro, Palawan and Mindanao and have formed strong Kapampangan organizations called aguman in Davao City and General Santos City. Agumans based in the United States and Canada are active in the revival of the Kapampangan language, california-based organizations promoted Kapampangan language and culture and raised funds for charitable and cultural projects in California and in Pampanga. The oldest artifact found in the Province of Pampanga is a 5000-year-old stone adze found in Candaba. It is said to be a used in building boats. Earthenware and tradeware dating back to 1500 BC have also found in Candaba. Farming and fishing were the industries of the Kapampangan people. Kapampangans have played a dynamic yet conflicting role in Philippine history and it was the Kapampangans of Macabebe who were the first to defend the Luzon Empire from Spanish domination in 1571. Yet it was the Kapampangans that the Spaniards relied on to defend their new colony from the Dutch and it was at this time that one Castillan plus three Kapampangans were considered as four Castillans as long they gallantly served in the colonial armed forces. Such behaviour earned them the stereotype of being quislings in exchange for personal wealth, in 1896, Kapampangans were one of the principal ethnic groups to push and fuel the Philippine revolution against Spain. Yet it was also the Kapampangans of Macabebe that fiercely defended the last Spanish garrison against the revolutionaries. With the outbreak of World War II, Japanese planes invaded the province of Pampanga and attacked the United States Air Base at Clark Field in Angeles. Later Japanese soldiers entered the province of Pampanga on 1942 and the Japanese Occupation formally began, many Kapampangans joined a group of stronghold soldiers that survived the invasion and officially trained under the 31st Infantry Division, Philippine Commonwealth Army. USAFFE was stationed in Pampanga on July 26,1941 before the Japanese Occupation to June 30,1946, after the Battle of Bataan in 1942, some Kapampangan soldiers of the USAFFE 31st Infantry Division fought four years of battles against Japanese troops. Many Kapampangans joined the resistance fighters of the Hukbalahap Communist resistance. Many Kapampangan festivals display an indigenous flavor unique only to the Kapampangan people and they start the battle in Ugtung-aldo or afternoon and they end it in Sisilim or sunset with the tune of what Macabebeanons and Masantuleñios called BATTALA Masantol, Macabebe and Lubao

Kapampangan people
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Rufino Cardinal Santos: the first Filipino to be named cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
Kapampangan people
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Juan Crisostomo Soto (Bacolor, Pampanga, Monument and memorial).

30.
Ilocano people
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The Ilokanos or Iloko people are the third largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group that mostly reside within the Ilocos Region in the northwestern seaboard of Luzon, Philippines. Most Ilokanos speak the Ilokano language, which has 40 dialects, the word Ilokano originates from Iloko, the conjugation of i- and look, which means from the bay in Ilokano. Aside from being referred to as Ilokano, they are identified as Samtoy. Ilocandia is the given to the traditional homeland of the Ilokano people. From the original strip of Northern Luzon, Ilocandia has spread throughout the Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley. A few Ilokanos living in the Cordilleras have some Cordillerano blood, most Ilokanos speak Ilokano, which is part of the Northern Philippine subgroup of the Austronesian family of languages. They also speak Tagalog, and English as second languages, most Ilokanos are Roman Catholics, while a significant number belong to the Aglipayan Church, which originated in Ilocos Norte. Many Filipino Americans are of Ilokano descent and they make up 85% of the Filipino-American population in Hawaii. The Austronesian ancestors of the present-day Ilocanos came to the Philippines through bilogs, the mounting population pressure due to the substantial population density during the mid-19th century caused the migration of the Ilokanos out of their historic homeland. By 1903, more than 290,000 Ilokanos migrated to Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley, more than 180,000 moved to Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija. Almost 50,000 moved to Cagayan Valley, half of them resided in Isabela, around 47,000 lived in Zambales and the Sultan Kudarat more than 11,000 The Ilokano Diaspora continued in 1906 when Ilokanos started to migrate to Hawaii and California. Ilokanos composed the largest number of expatriates in the United States, there is a significant Ilokano community in Hawaii, in which they make up more than 85% of the Filipino population there. Later migrations brought Ilokanos to the Cordilleras, Mindoro, Palawan, and Mindanao provinces of Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Ilokanos often season boiled vegetables with bagoong monamon to produce pinakbet. Local specialties include the abuos, soft white larvae of ants, another food that is popular for many Ilokanos is the Moringa or Malunggay. It is a condiment for meat soup or it can be mixed with the famous dinengdeng. Most households grow this tree in their backyards and usually offered free for all the neighbors who may want them, many Ilokanos from Hawaii are fond of eating them. One of the most well-known Ilokano literary works written in Iloco is the Biag ni Lam-ang, the Ilokano writer Elizabeth Medina is probably the most remarkable living Ilokano writer in Spanish language. Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Filipina Director, her father is from Paoay, Ilokos Norte Mac Alejandre, Filipino Director, Gregorio Aglipay, pedro Almazan, leader from Laoag, proclaimed and crowned King of Ilokos, led the First Ilocos Revolt in January 1661

Ilocano people
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Pinakbet, one of the staples of the Ilocano diet.
Ilocano people
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Provinces where Ilocano people are the largest ethnic group are shown in green.

31.
Tagalog people
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The Tagalog people is a major ethnolingustic group in the Philippines. They have a developed society due to the cultural heartland, Manila. The commonly accepted origin for the endonym Tagalog is the term tagá-ilog, an alternative theory states that the name is derived from tagá-alog, which means people from the ford. In 1821, American diplomat Edmund Roberts called the Tagalog Tagalor in his memoirs about his trips to the Philippines. The earliest written record of the Tagalog is a 9th-century document known as the Laguna Copperplate Inscription which is about a remission of debt on behalf of the ruler of Tondo. Inscribed on it is year 822 of the Saka Era, the month of Waisaka, and the day of the waning moon. Some contend it is between Old Tagalog and Old Javanese, the document states that it releases its bearers, the children of Namwaran, from a debt in gold amounting to 1 kati and 8 suwarnas. Pires exploration led him to discover that in their own country, the Luções had foodstuffs, wax, honey, inferior grade gold, had no king, and were governed instead by a group of elders. Contact with the rest of Southeast Asia led to the creation Baybayin later used in the book Doctrina Cristiana which is written by the 16th century Spanish colonizers, on May 19,1571, Miguel López de Legazpi gave the title city to the colony of Manila. The title was certified on June 19,1572, under Spain, Manila became the colonial entrepot in the Far East. The Philippines was a Spanish colony administered under the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the first substantial dictionary of Tagalog language was written by the Czech Jesuit missionary Pablo Clain in the beginning of the 18th century. The indigenous poet Francisco Baltazar is regarded as the foremost Tagalog writer, the ship set sail from Macau and landed in Morro Bay in what is now the California coast on October 17 of 1587, as part of the Galleon Trade between the Spanish East Indies and New Spain. More Filipino sailors arrived along the California coast when both places were part of the Spanish Empire, by 1763, Manila men or Tagalas had established a settlement called St. Malo on the outskirts of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Tagalog played a role during the 1896 Philippine Revolution. The Katipunan once intended to name the Philippines as Katagalugan or the Tagalog Republic, Miguel de Unamuno described revolutionary leader José Rizal as the Tagalog Hamlet and said of him “a soul that dreads the revolution although deep down desires it. He pivots between fear and hope, between faith and despair. ”In 1902, Macario Sakay formed his own Republika ng Katagalugan in the mountains of Morong, Tagalog was declared the official language by the first constitution in the Philippines, the Constitution of Biak-na-Bato in 1897. In 1939, President Quezon renamed the proposed Tagalog-based national language as wikang pambansâ, in 1959, the language was further renamed as Pilipino. The 1987 constitution designated Filipino as the national language mandating that as it evolves, it shall be developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine

Tagalog people
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Predominantly Tagalog-speaking regions in the Philippines. The color-schemes represent the 4 dialect zones of the language: Northern, Central, Southern, and Marinduque.

32.
Kankanaey people
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The Kankanaey people are an Indigenous peoples of the Northern Philippines. They are part of the group of indigenous people known as the Igorot people. The Kankanaey live in western Mountain Province, northern Benguet and southeastern Ilocos Sur, the Kankanaey of western Mountain Province from the municipalities of Sagada and Besao, Mountain Province identify themselves as part of a tribe called Applai or Aplai. Recent DNA studies show that the Kankanaey along with the Atayal people of Taiwan, were most probably among the ancestors of the Lapita people. Like most Igorot ethnic groups, the Kankanaey built sloping terraces to maximize farm space in the terrain of the Cordillera Administrative Region Cordillera. The Bontoc Igorot in Sagada and some nearby pueblos, as Takong and Agawa, the Kankanaey differ in the way they dress. The women soft-speaking Kankanaeys dress has a combination of black, white. The design of the attire is a criss-crossed style of black, white. The skirt or tapis is a combination of stripes of black, white, the women hard-speaking Kankanaeys dress is composed of mainly red and black with a little white styles, as for the skirt or tapis which is mostly called bakget and gateng. The men wore a G-string as it is called but it is known as wanes for the Kanakaneys of Besao. The design of the wanes may vary according to status or municipality. The Kankanaeys major dances include tayaw, pattong, as Igorot wedding dance, the tayaw is a community dance that is usually done in weddings, it may be also danced by the Ibaloi people but has a different style. Pattong is also a community dance from Mountain Province which every municipality has its own style, balangbang is the modernized word for the word Pattong. There are also some other dances that the Kankanaeys dance, such as the sakkuting, pinanyuan, Kankanaey houses are built like the other Igorot houses, which reflect their social status. Main Kankanaey language The name Kankanaey came from the language which they speak, the only difference among the Kankanaey are the way they speak like intonation and the usage of some words. In intonation, there is a hard Kankanaey or Applai and soft Kankanaey, speakers of hard Kankanaey are from Sagada, Besao and the surrounding parts or barrios of the said two municipalities. They speak Kankanaey hard in intonation where they differ in some words from the soft-speaking Kankanaey, the soft speaking Kankanaey comes from Northern Benguet, some parts of Benguet, and from the municipalities of Sabangan, Tadian and Bauko from Mountain Province. In words, for example, an Applai might say otik or beteg, the Kankanaey may also differ in some words like egay or aga, maid or maga

Kankanaey people
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A map of where the Kankanaey language is spoken and where the Kankanaey people live.

33.
Languages
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Language is the ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so, and a language is any specific example of such a system. The scientific study of language is called linguistics, questions concerning the philosophy of language, such as whether words can represent experience, have been debated since Gorgias and Plato in Ancient Greece. Thinkers such as Rousseau have argued that language originated from emotions while others like Kant have held that it originated from rational and logical thought, 20th-century philosophers such as Wittgenstein argued that philosophy is really the study of language. Major figures in linguistics include Ferdinand de Saussure and Noam Chomsky, estimates of the number of languages in the world vary between 5,000 and 7,000. However, any precise estimate depends on an arbitrary distinction between languages and dialects. Natural languages are spoken or signed, but any language can be encoded into secondary media using auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli – for example, in whistling, signed and this is because human language is modality-independent. All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate signs to particular meanings, human language has the properties of productivity and displacement, and relies entirely on social convention and learning. Its complex structure affords a wider range of expressions than any known system of animal communication. Language is processed in different locations in the human brain. Humans acquire language through interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently when they are approximately three years old. The use of language is deeply entrenched in human culture, a group of languages that descend from a common ancestor is known as a language family. The languages of the Dravidian family that are mostly in Southern India include Tamil. Academic consensus holds that between 50% and 90% of languages spoken at the beginning of the 21st century will probably have become extinct by the year 2100. The English word language derives ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s tongue, speech, language through Latin lingua, language, tongue, and Old French language. The word is used to refer to codes, ciphers. Unlike conventional human languages, a language in this sense is a system of signs for encoding and decoding information. This article specifically concerns the properties of human language as it is studied in the discipline of linguistics. As an object of study, language has two primary meanings, an abstract concept, and a specific linguistic system, e. g. French

34.
Kapampangan language
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The Pampangan language or Kapampangan is one of the major languages of the Philippines. Kapampangan is also understood in some municipalities of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, the language is also called as Pampango and honorifically in the Kapampangan language, as Amánung Sísuan, meaning breastfed/nurtured language. In 2012, Kapampangan is one of the languages of the Philippines that is being taught and studied formally in schools. The word Kapampangan is derived from the rootword pampáng which means riverbank, historically, this language was used in what was before the Kingdom of Tondo, ruled by the Lakans. In the 18th century, two books were written by Fr and he authored Vocabulario de la lengua Pampanga and Arte de la lengua Pampanga. Kapampangan produced two literary giants in the 19th century, Father Anselmo Fajardo was noted for his works Gonzalo de Córdova, another writer, Juan Crisóstomo Soto, was noted for writing many plays. He authored Alang Dios in 1901, the Augustinian missionaries studied the Kapampangan language together with its indigenous writing system. This contains the letters ‘Q and C’ and includes F, Ñ, by the end of the Spanish era, the ABAKADA, also known as Súlat Wáwâ or Guagua script, this replaced C and Q with the letter K. The Kapampangan nationalist writers from Wáwâ wanted to create an identity different from the Bacúlud literary tradition. Two Kapampangan writers from Wáwâ, Aurelio Tolentino and Monico Mercado with his translation of Rizals Mi Último Adiós have adapted Rizals proposal into Kapampangan writing, on 31 December 1937, Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon proclaimed the language based on Tagalog as the Philippine National Language. Zoilo Hilario propose to standardize Kapampangan orthography, being a member of the Institute of National Language, Hilario sought to adopt the ABAKADA used in Tagalog and impose it as the Kapampangan languages standard orthographic system. This legal imposition of Tagalog as the Philippine National Language whereby all other Philippine languages, the senseless conflict between the so-called purists and antipurists that plagued the Tagalog literary scene also found its way among Kapampangan writers. Samson submitted a proposal aimed at reconciling the OLD and the NEW spelling in Kapampangan writing and this is called Ámugng Samsons Hybrid Orthography. Samsons synthesis was at first readily accepted by the Catholic Archdiocese of Pampanga, in 1997, Batiáuan Foundation stated that the major obstacle to popularizing Kapampangan was the intense squabble over orthography. The prediction that the Kapampangan ethnic group would be absorbed by the Tagalogs was seen by various Kapampangan groups as a real threat. They are quite conscious of the fact that Tagalog words were replacing more and more terms in the spoken Kapampangan language. They simply revised the use of the ABAKADA in Kapampangan writing by removing the letter W, however Akademyang Kapampangan believes that, the Batiáuan revision serves complicate Kapampangan writing as well as confuse adherents to their proposed orthography. Batiáuan refutes that the marks are very essential in Kapampangan writing because there are many words in the Kapampangan language that are spelled the same

35.
Pangasinan language
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The Pangasinan language or Salitan Pangasinan is one of the major languages of the Philippines. Pangasinan is also understood in some municipalities in Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, the language is also called as Pangasinense or Pangalatok, which is taken from the Spanish language. In 2012, Pangasinan is one of the languages of the Philippines that is being taught and studied formally in schools. The Pangasinan language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family, Pangasinan is similar to other closely related Philippine languages, Indonesian in Indonesia, Malaysian in Malaysia, Hawaiian in Hawaii and Malagasy in Madagascar. The Pangasinan language is closely related to the Ibaloi language spoken in the neighboring province of Benguet and Baguio City. Pangasinan is classified under the Pangasinic group of languages, Pangasinan is the official language of the province of Pangasinan, located on the west central area of the island of Luzon along Lingayen Gulf. The people of Pangasinan are also referred to as Pangasinan, the province has a total population of 2,343,086, of which 2 million speak Pangasinan. Pangasinan is spoken in other Pangasinan communities in the Philippines, mostly in the provinces of Benguet, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales. Austronesian speakers settled in Maritime Southeast Asia during prehistoric times, perhaps more than 5,000 years ago, the word Pangasinan, means “land of salt” or “place of salt-making”, it is derived from the root word asin, the word for salt in Pangasinan. Pangasinan could also refer to a “container of salt or salted-products”, like other Malayo-Polynesian languages, Pangasinan has a verb–subject–object word order. Associative Numbers, Associative numbers are formed with prefix KA-, example, katlo, third of a group of three. Fractions, Fraction numbers are formed with prefix KA- and an associative number, multiplicatives, Multiplicative ordinal numbers are formed with prefix PI- and a cardinal number from two to four or PIN- for other numbers except for number one. Example, kaisa, first time, pidua, second time, pinlima, Multiplicative cardinal numbers are formed with prefix MAN- to the corresponding multiplicative ordinal number. Example, aminsan, once, amidua, twice, mamitlo, distributives, Distributive cardinal numbers are formed with prefixes SAN-, TAG-, or TUNGGAL and a cardinal number. Example, sansakey, one each, sanderua, two each, Distributive multiplicative numbers are formed with prefix MAGSI-, TUNGGAL, or BALANGSAKEY and a multiplicative cardinal number. Example, tunggal pamidua, twice each, magsi-pamidua, each twice, modern Pangasinan consists of 27 letters, which include the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet and the Pangasinan digraph ng, The ancient people of Pangasinan used an indigenous writing system. The ancient Pangasinan script, which is related to the Tagalog Baybayin script, was derived from the Javanese Kawi script of Indonesia, the Latin script was introduced during the Spanish colonial period. Pangasinan literature, using the indigenous syllabary and the Latin alphabet, continued to flourish during the Spanish, Pangasinan acquired many Spanish and English words, and some indigenous words were Hispanicized or Anglicized

Pangasinan language
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Area where Pangasinan is spoken according to Ethnologue

36.
Tagalog language
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Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is officially the national language, the word Tagalog is derived from the endonym taga-log, composed of tagá- and ilog. Linguists such as Dr. David Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust speculate that the Tagalogs, the first written record of Tagalog is the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, which dates to 900 CE and exhibits fragments of the language along with Sanskrit, Old Malay, Javanese and Old Tagalog. The first known book to be written in Tagalog is the Doctrina Christiana. Tagalog differs from its Central Philippine counterparts with its treatment of the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə, in Bikol and Visayan, this sound merged with /u/ and. In Tagalog, it has merged with /i/, for example, Proto-Philippine *dəkət is Tagalog dikít and Visayan & Bikol dukot. Proto-Philippine *r, *j, and *z merged with /d/ but is /l/ between vowels, Proto-Philippine *ŋajan and *hajək became Tagalog ngalan and halík. Proto-Philippine *R merged with /ɡ/. *tubiR and *zuRuʔ became Tagalog tubig, the first substantial dictionary of the Tagalog language was written by the Czech Jesuit missionary Pablo Clain in the beginning of the 18th century. Clain spoke Tagalog and used it actively in several of his books and he wrote the first dictionary, which he later passed over to Francisco Jansens and José Hernandez. Tagalog was declared the language by the first constitution in the Philippines. In 1939, President Quezon renamed the proposed Tagalog-based national language as wikang pambansâ, in 1959, the language was further renamed as Pilipino. The 1987 constitution designated Filipino as the national language mandating that as it evolves, it shall be developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine. The regional languages are the official languages in the regions. In secondary school, Filipino and English become the primary languages of instruction and it is the first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and a second language by the majority. Tagalog is a Central Philippine language within the Austronesian language family, being Malayo-Polynesian, it is related to other Austronesian languages, such as Malagasy, Javanese, Malay, Tetum, and Yami. It is closely related to the languages spoken in the Bicol Region and the Visayas islands, such as the Bikol group and the Visayan group, including Hiligaynon and Cebuano. At present, no comprehensive dialectology has been done in the Tagalog-speaking regions, though there have been descriptions in the form of dictionaries and grammars of various Tagalog dialects. Some example of differences are, Many Tagalog dialects, particularly those in the south, preserve the glottal stop found after consonants

Tagalog language
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The Tagalog Baybayin script.
Tagalog language
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Predominantly Tagalog-speaking regions in the Philippines. The color-schemes represent the 4 dialect zones of the language: Northern, Central, Southern, and Marinduque The majority of residents in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur speak Bikol as their first language but these provinces nonetheless have significant Tagalog minorities. In addition, Tagalog is used as a second language across the country.
Tagalog language
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Tagalog

37.
English language
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English /ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now the global lingua franca. Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to England, English is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states. It is the third most common language in the world, after Mandarin. It is the most widely learned second language and a language of the United Nations, of the European Union. It is the most widely spoken Germanic language, accounting for at least 70% of speakers of this Indo-European branch, English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of England, Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London and the King James Bible, and the start of the Great Vowel Shift. Through the worldwide influence of the British Empire, modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, English is an Indo-European language, and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. Most closely related to English are the Frisian languages, and English, Old Saxon and its descendent Low German languages are also closely related, and sometimes Low German, English, and Frisian are grouped together as the Ingvaeonic or North Sea Germanic languages. Modern English descends from Middle English, which in turn descends from Old English, particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into a number of other English languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian and Forth and Bargy dialects of Ireland. English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares new language features with other Germanic languages such as Dutch, German and these shared innovations show that the languages have descended from a single common ancestor, which linguists call Proto-Germanic. Through Grimms law, the word for foot begins with /f/ in Germanic languages, English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as the palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic. The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon, in the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain and the Romans withdrew from Britain. England and English are named after the Angles, Old English was divided into four dialects, the Anglian dialects, Mercian and Northumbrian, and the Saxon dialects, Kentish and West Saxon. Through the educational reforms of King Alfred in the century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex. The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the period of Old English were written using a runic script. By the sixth century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms and it included the runic letters wynn ⟨ƿ⟩ and thorn ⟨þ⟩, and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ð⟩, and ash ⟨æ⟩

English language
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The opening to the Old English epic poem Beowulf, handwritten in half-uncial script: Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon... "Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."
English language
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Countries of the world where English is a majority native language
English language
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Title page of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales c.1400

38.
Philippine Standard Time
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Philippine Standard Time, also known as Philippine Time and informally Juan Time, is the official name for the time in the Philippines. The country only uses one time zone, and for a short period, geographically, the Philippines lies within 116°40′ and 126°34′ east of the Prime Meridian, and is physically located within the UTC+08,00 time zone. Philippine Standard Time is maintained by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the Philippines shares the same time zone with Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, most parts of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, central Indonesia, and Western Australia. Philippine Standard Time was instituted through Batas Pambansa Blg,8, approved on 2 December 1978 and implemented on 1 January 1983. The Philippines is one of the few countries to officially and almost exclusively use the 12-hour clock in non-military situations. From 1521 to 1844, the Philippines had the date as Mexico. Monday,30 December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday,1 January 1845 and this meant that International Date Line moved from going west of the Philippines to go on the east side of the country. At the time, local time was used to set clocks, meaning that every place used its own local time based on its longitude. Television and radio stations in the Philippines display the time, in September 2011, the Department of Science and Technology proposed to synchronise time nationwide in an effort to discourage tardiness. On May 15,2013, President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act No,10535, better known as the The Philippine Standard Time Act of 2013 as a last step to finally implement the Juan Time. Effective June 1,2013, all government offices and media networks will be required to use Philippine Standard Time as a basis to set their timepieces, in addition, the first week of January will be regularly observed as the National Time Consciousness Week. The IANA time zone database contains one zone for the Philippines in the file zone. tab, hapon starts at 1,00 PM and ends 5,59 PM. Gabí starts at 6,00 PM and ends 12,00 AM which is Hatinggabi, madalíng Araw starts at 12,01 AM and ends 4,59 AM. Except in very formal situations, Filipinos rarely use the numbers in telling time. - Alas otso kwarenta y uno ng gabí or Apatnapút-isá makalipas ng ikawaló ng gabí5,30 A. M, - Alas singko y medya ng umaga or Tatlumpûng minuto makalipas ng ikalimá ng umaga or ikalimá at kalaháti ng umaga 3,00 P. M. - Alas tres ng hapon o Ikatló ng hapon 12,00 P. M, - Alas dose ng tanghalì o Ikalabíndalawá ng tanghalì12,00 A. M. - Alas dose ng hatinggabi o Ikalabíndalawá ng hatinggabí2,00 A. M

Philippine Standard Time
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World time conversion based on Philippine Standard Time (click to enlarge).

39.
List of ZIP codes in the Philippines
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In the Philippines, the Philippine ZIP code is used by the Philippine Postal Corporation to simplify the distribution of mail. While in function it is similar to the ZIP code used in the United States, its form, the use of ZIP codes in the Philippines is not mandatory, however it is highly recommended by Philpost that they be used. This article provides a list of Philippine ZIP codes, cities that have become independent of the province are listed under the province they used to be part of

List of ZIP codes in the Philippines
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ZIP codes per provinces according to the first two numbers.

40.
Telephone numbers in the Philippines
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Telephone numbers in the Philippines follow an open telephone numbering plan and an open dial plan. Both plans are regulated by the National Telecommunications Commission, an agency under the Department of Information. The Philippines is assigned an international dialling code of 63 by ITU-T, telephone numbers are fixed at seven digits, with area codes fixed at one, two, or three digits. Mobile phone numbers are always 10 digits, when making long-distance calls in the Philippines, the prefix 0 for domestic calls and 00 for international calls are used. Some smaller carriers concentrated within a geographic area may issue four- or five-digit area codes. Occasionally, an area may change area codes. For example, the City of Bacoor in Cavite has been included in the coverage area of area code 2 per the National Telecommunications Commissions Memorandum Order No. 08-09-2011, although almost all fixed-lines in the city use the old 46 area code due to the poor compliance of PLDT. Sometimes area codes are shared by a number of government entities to maximise their use. In extreme cases, area codes are shared across an island like in Leyte and Samar, or even entire regions, in order to identify the calls point of origin, the three-digit telephone exchange prefix is checked. Since the Philippines employs an open plan, telephone numbers dialled within a given area code do not require the area code. When dialling other area codes, the long distance access prefix 0 is added, but when dialling from overseas. However, the code indicates the service provider and not necessarily a geographic region. Unlike fixed-line telephones, the telephone dialling format is always observed when using a mobile phone. Therefore, mobile phone numbers always have the format +63 xxx-xxxx for international callers and 0 xxx-xxxx for domestic callers. Some of the first area codes to be assigned for mobile phones were 912 for Mobiline/Piltel,915 for Islacom,917 for Globe Telecom,918 for Smart Communications, and 973 for Express Telecom. As service began growing rapidly since the 1990s, new codes have been added to meet demand as existing codes have since been exhausted, newer codes often come immediately after the last code exhausted, but this might not be the case if the next code is already in use. 955/956 are the latest codes and are used for Globe & TM, areas codes are grouped by provider with no single contiguous block of codes for a single provider

Telephone numbers in the Philippines
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Fixed line area codes

41.
Ilocano language
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Ilocano is the third most-spoken native language of the Philippines. An Austronesian language, it is related to languages as Malay, Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Maori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan. It is closely related to some of the other Austronesian languages of Northern Luzon, and has slight mutual intelligibility with the Balangao language, Ilocano, like all Philippine languages, is an Austronesian language, a very expansive language family believed to originate in Taiwan. Ilocano comprises its own branch within the Philippine Cordilleran language subfamily and it is spoken as first language by seven million people. The language is spoken in northwest Luzon, the Babuyan Islands, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, parts of Central Luzon, the language is also spoken in the United States, with Hawaii and California having the largest amount of speakers. It is the third most spoken language in Hawaii after Tagalog and Japanese. They used a system that is termed as an abugida, or an alphasyllabary and it was similar to the Tagalog and Pangasinan scripts, where each character represented a consonant-vowel, or CV, sequence. Before the addition of the virama, writers had no way to designate coda consonants, in the Spanish system words of Spanish origin kept their spellings. Native words, on the hand, conformed to the Spanish rules of spelling. Nowadays, only the generation of Ilocanos use the Spanish system. In the system based on that of Tagalog there is more of a phoneme-to-letter correspondence, the letters ng constitute a digraph and counts as a single letter, following n in alphabetization. As a result, numo humility appears before ngalngal to chew in newer dictionaries, Words of foreign origin, most notably those from Spanish, need to be changed in spelling to better reflect Ilocano phonology. Words of English origin may or may not conform to this orthography, a prime example using this system is the weekly magazine Bannawag. The following are two versions of the Lords Prayer, the one on the left is written using the Spanish-based orthography, while the one on the right uses the Tagalog-based system. It is recognized by the Commission on the Filipino Language as one of the languages of the Philippines. Constitutionally, Ilocano is an official language in the regions where it is spoken. In recent years, a movement in both the Lower and the Upper House of the Congress pressed for the usage of the tongue as a medium of instruction until the sixth grade. Ilocano animistic past offers a background in folklore, mythology

Ilocano language
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Ilokano-speaking density per province. Enlarge picture to see percent distribution.
Ilocano language
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Area where Ilokano is spoken according to Ethnologue Striped areas are Itneg -Ilokano bilingual communities in Abra province
Ilocano language
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Our Father prayer from Doctrina Cristiana, 1621.
Ilocano language
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An Ilocano Dictionary by Morice Vanoverbergh, CICM, published in 1955 by the CICM Fathers in Baguio City to help them in evangelizing in Ilocandia.

42.
Pangasinan
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Pangasinan is a province in the Philippines. Its official language is Pangasinan and its capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf. It has a land area of 5,451.01 square kilometres. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 2,956,726 people, the official number of registered voters in Pangasinan is 1,651,814. Pangasinan is the name for the province, the people, indigenous Pangasinan speakers are estimated to number at least 2 million. The Pangasinan language is one of the recognized regional languages in the Philippines. In Pangasinan, there were ethnic groups who enriched the cultural fabric of the province. Almost all of the people are Pangasinenses and the rest are descendants of Bolinao and Ilocano, Pangasinan is also spoken as a second-language by many of the ethnic minorities in Pangasinan. The minority ethnic groups are the Bolinaos and the Ilocanos, at present it is pronounced Paŋgasinan based on the Spanish pronunciation due to their inability to utter or pronounce the nasal sound <nga> /ŋ/. The province is a producer of salt in the Philippines. Its major products include bagoong and alamang Pangasinan was founded by Austronesian speakers who called themselves Anakbanwa by at least 2500 BC. A kingdom called Luyag na Caboloan, which expanded to much of northwestern Luzon. The Kingdom of Luyag na Kaboloan was known as the Wangdom of Pangasinan in Chinese records, the ancient kingdom of Luyag na Caboloan was in fact mentioned in Chinese and Indian records as being an important kingdom on ancient trade routes. Popular tourist attractions in Pangasinan include the Hundred Islands National Park in Alaminos City, Dagupan City is known for its Bangus Festival. Pangasinan is also known for its delicious mangoes and ceramic oven-baked Calasiao puto, Pangasinan occupies a strategic geo-political position in the central plain of Luzon, known as the rice granary of the Philippines. Pangasinan has been described as a gateway to northern Luzon and as the heartland of the Philippines, the Pangasinan people, like most of the people in the Malay Archipelago, are descendants of the Austronesian-speakers who settled in Southeast Asia since prehistoric times. Comparative genetics, linguistics and archaeological studies locate the origin of the Austronesian languages in Sundaland, the Pangasinan language is one of many languages that belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family

43.
Nueva Ecija
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Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, Nueva Ecija borders, from the south clockwise, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora. Nueva Ecija was named by the Spanish colonizers after the city of Ecija, the sprawling and varied geological features of the land now known as Nueva Ecija, includes plains, mountains and rivers, all the requisites for the birth and sustenance of life itself. The lands very first settlers came upon three mountain ranges to the East, North and West and vast southern plains. All these were sustained by a flowing river, one whose earliest name was spoken in a now lost tongue. The Great Pampanga River nourished wild, fruit-bearing trees, served as home to an abundance of fish and made possible lush, teeming woodlands that sheltered animals. All these combined must have been paradise in whatever language for the lands earliest settlers and these first settlers included tribes of Ilongots or Italons, Abaca and Buquids. Settlements were built along the following the rivers undulations. The Ilongots, meaning people of the forest, were the fierce headhunters and animist tribes who occupied Carranglan, the head hunting communities were nestled along the riverbanks of Rio Grandes tributaries in the north. Abaca and Italon were subgroups of Ilongots meaning river settlers, Ilongots survived mainly by fishing and hunting. Food production was a secondary occupation, the agriculture-based community of Caraclans and Buquids were settled in Bongabon and Pantabangan along the riverbanks of Rio Grandes tributaries in the northeast. When the waves of Malay migrations took place between 300-200 B. C. intrepid travelers and traders set up settlements along Luzons western coast and these early settlements formed the nucleus of the Pampango Empire that was consolidated by Balagtas. The flatlands of the portion of Upper Pampanga was a hospitable place for these new Malay settlers. The indigenous tribes were forced to take to the hills in the face of the Malays superior technology, barter trade flourished among communities that settled along the great river. The constant riverside trading resulted in both a commercial and cultural exchange between the settlements in vast plains upstream of the Rio Grande de Pampanga, settlements in Carranglan, Pantabangan, Bongabon and Puncan prospered and grew into more stable communities. The Kingdom of Tondo, headed from what is now central Manila, invaded the area, eventually, more areas in northern Nueva Ecija were absorbed by the Kingdom of Tondo, to a point where even present-day Nueva Viscaya was conquered by Tondo. Even the northwest areas of Nueva Ecija, which was ruled by the Kaboloan of Pangasinan, was captured by Tondo, when the Spanish arrived in Manila and destroyed the territorial powers of the Tondo monarchy, much of Nueva Ecija became a de facto free land. At the time, the Pampango crown has waned and had little resistance from Spanish invasion and their forces passed through the settlement areas of the Upper Pampanga River

44.
Zambales
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Zambales is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region in the island of Luzon. Zambales borders Pangasinan to the north, Tarlac and Pampanga to the east, Bataan to the south, with a land area of 3,830.83 square kilometres, Zambales is the second largest among the seven provinces of Central Luzon. The province is noted for its mangoes, which are abundant from January to April, Zambales does not have a functional airport - the closest airport is Clark International airport. Subic Bay International Airport, which is located in Cubi Point in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone is no longer functional for international or domestic flights. The Freeport Zone is host to many tourist attractions include casinos, beach resorts, parks, beachside huts and cottages. The provinces name came from the word zambal, which is a Hispanized term for Sambali, zambal refers to the language spoken by the early Austronesian inhabitants of the place. It could also originated from the word Zambo a term used by the Spanish, the province is home to the Aetas, the aboriginal people of the Philippines who share afro-ethnic similarities. The area now occupied by Zambales was first explored by the Spanish in 1572, among the earliest towns founded were Subic, Botolan, Masinloc, Iba, and Santa Cruz. Masinloc became the provinces first capital, however, the capital was moved among the last three towns above during its history before settling in Iba, due to its strategic location. Seven of the original northern towns, which included Bolinao, Infanta. The first civil governor of Zambales during the American era was Potenciano Lesaca from 1901-1903, Zambales lies on the western shores of Luzon island along the South China Sea. Its shoreline is rugged and features many coves and inlets, the Zambales Mountains in the eastern part of the province occupies about 60% of the total land area of Zambales. Subic Bay, at the end of the province, provides a natural harbor. The summit and crater lake of Mount Pinatubo lies within Botolan municipality in Zambales, near the tripoint of Zambales, Pampanga and this volcano, once considered dormant, erupted violently in 1991. The former summit of the volcano was obliterated by the eruption and replaced by a 2.5 km wide caldera, with an average depth of 800 m, Lake Pinatubo is the deepest lake in the Philippines. The highest point of the rim is 1,485 m above sea level. A vast portion of the Zambales province acquired desert-like features in 1991, Zambales has two pronounced seasons, dry from October to June, and wet from July to September. Zambales comprises 13 municipalities and 1 highly urbanized city, which are divided into two legislative districts, Olongapo City is a highly urbanized city and administers itself autonomously from the province

Zambales
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Provincial Capitol in Iba, decorated for the Mango Festival
Zambales
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Several coves such as this in San Antonio feature the western coastline of the province.

45.
Pampanga
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Pampanga or Pampaŋga is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Angeles City, while geographically within Pampanga, is classified as a first-class, highly urbanized city and is governed independently of the province. The name La Pampanga was given by the Spaniards, who encountered natives living along the banks of the Pampanga River and its creation in 1571 makes it the first Spanish province on Luzon Island. The town of Villa de Bacolor in the province served as the Spanish colonial capital when Great Britain invaded Manila as part of the Seven Years War. Pampanga is served by Clark International Airport, which is in Clark Freeport Zone, the province is home to two Philippine Air Force airbases, Basa Air Base in Floridablanca and the former United States Clark Air Base in Angeles City. By 2015, the province has 2,198,110 inhabitants, ancient Pampangas territorial area included portions of the modern provinces of Tarlac, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. Pampanga was re-organized as a province by the Spaniards on December 11,1571, due to excessive abuses committed by some encomenderos, King Philip II of Spain in 1574 prohibited the further awarding of private estates, but this decree was not fully enforced until 1620. The encomiendas of La Pampanga at that time had eighteen thousand six hundred, Pampanga, which is about 850 square miles in area and inhabited by more than 1.5 million people, had its present borders drawn in 1873. During the Spanish regime it was one of the richest Philippine provinces, Manila and its surrounding region were then primarily dependent on Kapampangan agricultural, fishery and forestry products as well as on the supply of skilled workers. As other Luzon provinces were created due to increases in population, during the 17th century, The Dutch recruited men from Pampanga as mercenaries who served the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, known as Papangers part of the larger Mardijkers community. Their legacy can be found in North Jakarta, however, there are few traces of their descendants, except for a small community in Kampung Tugu. The old Pampanga towns of Aliaga, Cabiao, Gapan, San Antonio, the municipality of San Miguel de Mayumo of Pampanga was yielded to the province of Bulacan in the same provincial boundary configuration in 1848. However, in 1873, the four towns were returned to Pampanga. On December 8,1941, Japanese planes bombed Clark Air Base marking the beginning of the invasion of Pampanga, between 1941 and 1942, occupying Japanese forces began entering Pampanga. The establishment of the general headquarters and military camp bases of the Philippine Commonwealth Army was active from 1935 to 1946. The Philippine Constabulary was active from 1935 to 1942 and 1944 to 1946 in the province of Pampanga. S. military forces fight the Imperial Japanese armed forces. The June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo displaced a number of people with the submersion of whole towns. Pampanga covers a area of 2,002.20 square kilometres occupying the south-central section of the Central Luzon region

46.
Luzon
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Luzon (/luːˈzɒn/, Tagalog pronunciation, is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. It is ranked 15th largest in the world, with a population of 52.99 million as of 2015, it is the fourth most populous island in the world, containing about 53% of the countrys total population. Luzon may also refer to one of the three island groups in the country. The name Luzon is thought to derive from the Tagalog word lusong, from just before the first millennium, the Tagalog and Kapampangan peoples of south and central Luzon had established several Indianized kingdoms, notably among them those of Tundok and Namayan. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the first Philippine document written in 900AD, names places in and these kingdoms were based on leases between village rulers and landlords or Rajahs, to whom tributes and taxes were levied. These kingdoms were coastal thalassocracies based on trade with neighboring Asian political entities at that time, some parts of Luzon were Islamized when the Sultanate of Brunei expanded its realms from Borneo to the Philippines and set up the Kingdom of Maynila as its puppet-state. In addition, other kingdoms like the Wangdom of Pangasinan had become tributary states to China and were largely Sinified kingdoms, certain kilns were renowned over others and prices depended on the reputation of the kiln. Of this flourishing trade, the Burnay jars of Ilocos are the large clay jar manufactured in Luzon today with origins from this time. The Yongle Emperor instituted a Chinese Governor on Luzon during Zheng Hes voyages, China also had vassals among the leaders in the archipelago. China attained ascendancy in trade with the area in Yongles reign, in the 1500s, people from Luzon were called Lucoes and were actively employed in trading, seafaring and military campaigns across Southeast Asia. The Portuguese were the first European explorers who recorded it in their charts as Luçonia or Luçon, edmund Roberts, who visited Luzon in the early 19th century, wrote that Luzon was discovered in 1521. Many people from Luzon had active-employment in Portuguese Malacca and his father and wife carried on his maritime trading business after his death. Another important Malacca trader was Curia de Raja who also hailed from Luzon, the surname of de Raja or diraja could indicate that Regimo and Curia, and their families, were of noble or royal descent as the term is an abbreviation of Sanskrit adiraja. Pinto noted that there were a number of Lucoes in the Islamic fleets that went to battle with the Portuguese in the Philippines during the 16th century, the Sultan of Aceh gave one of them the task of holding Aru in 1540. Pinto also says one was named leader of the Malays remaining in the Moluccas Islands after the Portuguese conquest in 1511, pigafetta notes that one of them was in command of the Brunei fleet in 1521. However, the Luções did not only fight on the side of the Muslims, pinto says they were also apparently among the natives of the Philippines who fought the Muslims in 1538. On Mainland Southeast Asia, Lusung/Lucoes warriors aided the Burmese king in his invasion of Siam in 1547 AD, at the same time, Lusung warriors fought alongside the Siamese king and faced the same elephant army of the Burmese king in the defence of the Siamese capital at Ayuthaya. Scholars have thus suggested that they could be valued by all sides

47.
Aeta people
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The Aeta, or Agta, are an indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of the island of Luzon, the Philippines. They are thought to be among the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, the Aeta were included in the group of people Negrito during Spanish Era. Various Aeta groups in northern Luzon are known as Pugut or Pugot, an Ilocano term that also means goblin or forest spirit and these names are mostly considered inappropriate or derogatory by fellow Negritos of northern Luzon. The history of the Aetas continues to confound anthropologists and archaeologists, unlike many of their Austronesian counterparts, the Aetas have shown resistance to change. Aetas had little interaction with the Spaniards as they remained in the mountains during the Spanish rule, even the attempts of the Spaniards to settle them in reducciones or reservations all throughout Spanish rule failed. According to Spanish observers like Miguel López de Legazpi, Negritos possessed iron tools and their speed and accuracy with a bow and arrow were proverbial and they were fearsome warriors. Unwary travelers or field workers were often easy targets, despite their martial prowess, however, the Aetas small numbers, primitive economy and lack of organization often made them easy prey for better-organized groups. Zambals seeking slaves would take advantage of their internal feuding. They were often sold as slaves to Borneo and China, and, unlike the serf feudal system imposed on other Filipinos, the Aeta are an indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of the Philippines. They are nomadic and build temporary shelters made of sticks driven to the ground. The well-situated and more modernized Aetas have moved to villages and areas of cleared mountains and they live in houses made of bamboo and cogon grass. Mining, deforestation, illegal logging, and slash-and-burn farming has caused the population in the country to steadily decrease to the point where they number only in the thousands today. The most thorough longitudinal study done of any Aeta group is available on the Web, all Aeta communities have adopted the language of their Austronesian Filipino neighbors, which have sometimes diverged over time to become different languages. These include, in order of number of speakers, Mag-indi, Mag-antsi, Abellen, Ambala, there are different views on the dominant character of the Aeta religion. Those who believe they are monotheistic argue that various Aeta tribes believe in a supreme being who rules over lesser spirits or deities, for example, the Pinatubo Aeta believe in environmental spirits. They believe that good and evil spirits inhabit the environment, such as the spirits of the river, sea, sky, mountain, hill, valley, no special occasion is needed for the Aeta to pray, but there is a clear link between prayer and economic activities. The Aeta dance before and after a pig hunt, the night before Aeta women gather shellfish, they perform a dance which is partly an apology to the fish and partly a charm to ensure the catch. Similarly, the men hold a bee dance before and after the expeditions for honey, the mission agency provided education, including pastoral training for natives to reach members of their own tribe